A woman on probation for illegally driving on to the airfield of Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in 2018 was arrested again late Tuesday for driving the wrong way on Route 30 in Hempfield, narrowly missing a state trooper.

Police say Dakota J. Jones, 26, of Greensburg, was arrested in a stolen pickup truck and assaulted four state troopers around midnight as she was placed under arrest after Trooper John Stefanik performed a traffic maneuver to stop her vehicle along Toll Hill Road.

Stefanik said Jones refused to identify herself, kicked and spit on troopers and smelled of alcohol when she was pulled out of a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado she allegedly stole three hours earlier from a Greensburg man.

Stefanik was on patrol driving eastbound on Route 30 near Toll House Road about 11:45 p.m. when he saw a pickup truck heading toward him in the passing lane, driving westbound in the eastbound lanes.

“I was able to maneuver the patrol vehicle into the right lane to avoid a head-on collision,” Stefanik wrote in court documents filed with Hempfield District Judge Mark Mansour.

When Stefanik approached the vehicle, Jones refused to get out of the truck or follow any commands.

“The female responded by yelling profanities,” Stefanik said.

When three other troopers arrived to assist Stefanik and attempted to walk her to a patrol car, Stefanik said she began to kick the troopers and spit on them. When they got her in a patrol car, Stefanik said Jones damaged the vehicle “as she continued to kick and scream.”

Police said she refused to go to Excela Health Hospital for a forensic blood analysis.

Stefanik said Jones smelled of alcohol and troopers found a package of Suboxone in a backpack she had in the truck. Stefanik said Jones did not have a prescription for the Suboxone.

When troopers called the owner of the truck, Stefanik learned it was stolen three hours earlier in Greensburg.

Jones was arraigned before Hempfield District Judge Tony Bompiani on multiple criminal charges and traffic citations including aggravated assault, theft, fleeing and eluding, driving under the influence of a controlled substance, driving at an unsafe speed, illegal possession of Suboxone, receiving stolen property, resisting arrest and driving without a license.

On Dec. 2, 2018, Jones was arrested at the Arnold Palmer Airport in Unity by state police after she drove through an open security gate and onto the airfield. In that case, police allege she also punched a state trooper who attempted to stop her near the state police helicopter aviation facility after she claimed she was an FBI agent, according to court documents.

She pleaded guilty in February to aggravated assault and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and was given a two-year-probation sentence. Judge Tim Krieger also ordered Jones undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation, according to court records.

Her attorney, John Sweeney, could not be reached for comment.

In the new case, Bompiani ordered Jones held in the county prison after she failed to post $150,000 bond pending a preliminary hearing Sept. 4 before Mansour.

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