Calif. woman hit cop to go to jail to quit smoking

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Think you've heard of every way possible to quit smoking? Etta Mae Lopez came up with a new one: slap a cop so you'll go to jail, where smoking isn't allowed.

Lopez smacked Sacramento County sheriff's Deputy Matt Campoy in the face Tuesday as he left the main jail at the end of his shift. He grabbed her and took her inside the jail, where she slapped his arm as soon as he turned her loose.

Once she was handcuffed, the 5-foot 1-inch Lopez told Campoy she picked him because he was in uniform and she wanted to make sure she struck a law enforcement officer.

"She waited all day for a deputy to come out because she knew if she assaulted a deputy she would go to jail and be inside long enough to quit her smoking habit," Campoy told The Sacramento Bee.

The deputy said he tried to sidestep Lopez as he left the jail through the usual gathering of family members who linger outside the facility a few blocks from the state Capitol.

"I stepped to the left again and she suddenly stepped into me and slapped my face," he said. "I've been telling everybody that I have a new Irish name: Nick O'Derm."

Lopez, 31, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery on a peace officer and was sentenced Thursday to 63 days in jail, with credit for the three days she served this week, said Shelly Orio, a spokeswoman for the county district attorney's office. Lopez also was sentenced to five days for violating her probation from a 2010 drunken driving conviction.

Among the conditions included in her sentence: an order to have no contact with deputies.

Loading...
  • ‘F**king Religious Idiots’: The CraigsList Ad (and Promotion) That Just Has to Be Seen to Be Believe …

    "Preaching and proselytizing welcome, however it will cost you 10 cents a word to attempt to convert us. Mormons pay double"

  • Tennis-Murray stopped by Berdych in Madrid quarter-finals

    MADRID, May 10 (Reuters) - World number three Andy Murray's latest bid for a maiden career title on clay ended when he was beaten 7-6 6-4 by sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych in the Madrid Open quarter-finals on Friday. The Briton had lost both of his previous two matches on the red dust against Berdych, who was runner-up to Roger Federer last year, and produced an erratic performance this time. ...

  • Seattle investor lifts bid for Sacramento Kings basketball team

    By Sharon Bernstein and Eric M. Johnson LOS ANGELES/SEATTLE (Reuters) - A Seattle investor group vying to purchase the Sacramento Kings NBA team has vastly increased its offer to buy the basketball franchise, hoping to wrest momentum away from a Sacramento group that wants to keep the team in California's capital. Hedge fund manager Chris Hansen, who is fighting to bring the team to Seattle to replace the city's beloved SuperSonics, posted on his website Friday that his group's new offer would value the team at $625 million, up $75 million from a prior offer. ...

  • 200 sickened after dining at Vegas restaurant

    LAS VEGAS (AP) — A new report shows 200 people who dined at one of Las Vegas' most popular restaurants about a block off the Strip have reported food poisoning symptoms, making it the largest outbreak southern Nevada health officials have seen in at least a decade.

  • 7 horrifying details from the Cleveland abduction police report

    The media has gotten ahold of the initial police writeup of interviews with Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight. It's an ugly tale

  • Officials: US forces on alert in response to Libya

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Marines and other U.S. forces in Europe are on a heightened state of alert in response to a deteriorating security situation in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, two U.S. officials said Friday.

  • Kidnap Victim Asks Not to Be Left Alone on 1st Night Home with Family

    Mother of Gina DeJesus Speaks to ABC News in Exclusive Interview

  • Woman held captive in Cleveland home rebuffs mother, grandmother

    By Kim Palmer CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Michelle Knight, the longest-held captive in a dungeon-like Cleveland house, is free after 11 years. But she remains hospitalized and is shunning visits from relatives, some of whom thought she was a runaway when she vanished. Knight, 32, was good condition Thursday at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland after her rescue Monday from a house that became her prison for more than a decade. Neither Knight's grandmother nor her mother, who moved to Florida but flew back to Cleveland this week, have seen her. "No, we haven't - on her request. ...

Follow Yahoo! News

Loading...