'A Feisty Young Lady': Police Say An 18-Year-Old Correctional Facility Escapee Was Arrested For Allegedly Headbutting The Officer Who Captured Her
LATROBE, Pa. (KDKA) - A young woman is in jail tonight after police say she escaped from a correctional facility in Latrobe, then repeatedly tried to headbutt an officer once she was captured.
"You never know what's gonna happen," said Latrobe Chief John Sleasman after he was involved in a case that involved an escapee, a few attempted headbutts and an old sailboat.
The state police put out a BOLO for 18-year-old Caitlin Harkins-Shirley, who investigators say had just escaped from a detention facility in Latrobe. It didn't take long for police to find her along Lincoln Avenue, but Chief Sleasman says as soon as she saw them, she ran north through an ally.
Chief Sleasman ended up in the parking lot of Racer's bar and grill. They weren't sure where she was, but then they got a tip.
"A young gentleman -- we didn't even get his name -- he approached us and pointed toward a boat on a trailer," says Chief Sleasman. Underneath was Harkins-Shirley.
"I ordered her to come out as she was coming out she said she was going to come out and kill me," says Chief Sleasman.
According to him, Harkins-Shirley didn't go quietly into custody: "She was a feisty young lady."
He says "she was raising her head backward, trying to headbutt me."
Chief Sleasman says after a significant struggle, she was eventually handcuffed and is presently in the Westmoreland County Jail facing multiple aggravated assault counts.
