Bedford woman accused of kicking, scratching officers after arrest outside warming shelter

BEDFORD — A 25-year-old Bedford woman is facing preliminary charges after police say she fought officers, kicking one and cutting another’s hand, following her arrest outside the Men’s Warming Shelter early Saturday.

Tayler Rasor, of the 2900 block of Ted Jones Drive, was arrested Oct. 10 on preliminary charges of battery on a public safety official, resisting law enforcement by force with bodily injury, public intoxication and disorderly conduct, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by the Bedford Police Department.

Officers were sent to the shelter at about 12:53 a.m. after an officer with the Lawrence County Jail called 911 to report a woman yelling and screaming on the south side of the building. Police found Rasor sitting there with her dog, according to the affidavit.

Rasor told officers that a Lawrence County Sheriff’s deputy had brought her there earlier and left her. Sheriff’s dispatchers later told Bedford police that she had come into their department to use the restroom and that a road deputy had followed her to the shelter.

According to the affidavit, Rasor had glassy eyes and slurred speech, could not sit upright steadily and smelled of alcohol. When asked her name, she began crying and told officers “bye,” then started swearing, screaming and becoming confrontational, police said.

Officers said they tried to get her help, but she refused. She was given a disorderly conduct warning and told to gather her belongings and move along, but she kept arguing and was handcuffed, pulling away from officers as she was detained. A preliminary breath test showed a blood alcohol content of 0.229%, according to the affidavit. An officer took her dog, and her belongings were later taken to her apartment and left with her boyfriend.

Police said Rasor began fighting an officer as she was being walked to a patrol car for transport to IU Health Bedford for medical clearance, and was placed against the vehicle. During the ride, she screamed and kicked the prisoner transport equipment in the back of the car, police said.

At the hospital, Rasor fought officers in the parking lot and kicked an officer in the right shin, causing pain, according to the affidavit. Police said she kept screaming and fighting inside the hospital, where other patients were present, and her legs were restrained in the lobby before she was carried into the emergency room.

After she was medically cleared and taken to the Lawrence County Jail, Rasor continued to fight, police said. While officers helped jail staff restrain her, she dug her nails into a sergeant’s middle finger, cutting the skin and causing bleeding and bruising, according to the affidavit.

The charges listed in a probable cause affidavit are preliminary. Formal charges are determined by the Lawrence County Prosecutor’s Office. Rasor is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.