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Stamford Woman Charged After Struggling With Darien Police

DARIEN, Conn. -- A woman who had walked into Stamford Police headquarters on Nov. 30 with what she believed was a bomb was arrested Monday morning after she struggled with Darien Police and then later with Stamford Hospital staff while allegedly high on PCP, Darien Police said.

Joanna Jack

Joanna Jack

Photo Credit: Darien Police Department

Joanna Jack, 30, of 196 Hope St., Stamford, was charged with possession of narcotics, possession of drug paraphernalia and interfering with an officer. Bond was set at $2,500 on those charges. She also had a court-set bond of $10,000 for first-degree failing to appear in court on unrelated charges out of Stamford. 

She didn't make bond and was held in custody at Darien Police headquarters for her court appearance Tuesday.

Police said it started when an officer noticed a vehicle that had damage on its sides parked at a gas station at 211 Post Road at 12:30 a.m. The officer drove past the vehicle twice before approaching the 2012 Honda Accord, said Sgt. Jeremiah Marron.

The officer ran the plates and discovered there was an arrest warrant out of Stamford for failing to appear in court and the registered owner was Joanna Jack.

When the officer approached the woman she immediately became argumentative when asked to hand over her license, Marron said.

“Why do you need my driver’s license, I did nothing wrong," she is alleged to have said.

She looked first in her glove box for her purse, then the back seat and then to her trunk. When she returned to the car she found it behind the front passenger's seat. Police said she appeared to be paranoid and and had a blank stare. She refused to come out of the vehicle when asked and locked her doors and attempted to roll up the window, police said. An officer told her they would smash the window if she continued.

Officers noticed that she put her foot on the break and reached for the center console as if she was going to drive the car and an officer reached in and grabbed the key out of the ignition, Marron said.

As officers struggled to pull her out of the vehicle she yelled that she was videotaping them. After she was pulled from the vehicle she was handcuffed despite her efforts to resist, police said.

Police discovered a small piece of aluminum foil and a blunt cigar that that the strong chemical smell consistent with PCP, according to police reports. Darien EMS was called when she complained of suffering from an asthma attack. When she was removed from the rear of the police cruiser police discovered three small folds of greenish material that smelled of PCP, police said. In the police cruiser's video it appeared as if the woman had been reaching back into her pants when she was handcuffed.

When she was taken to the hospital she is alleged to have told an EMS paramedic that she had been smoking PCP all day. She became extremely combative with hospital staff and had to be sedated, police said.

She was released back into the custody of Darien Police at 5:30 a.m. and she is alleged to have told police she didn't remember anything because she had been high on PCP.

Back on Nov. 30, Jack brought what she thought was a pipe bomb into Stamford Police headquarters on Nov. 30, prompting a hurried response by police.

The woman ran over a metal cylinder on Broad Street near Target around 12:30 a.m. There were wires around the cylinder, police said.

She picked it up, drove to the police station and walked into the police lobby and placed it on front counter. The sergeant immediately ordered her to take it outside and place it on the grass outside headquarters and the bomb squad was called.

Traffic was rerouted from Hoyt and Bedford streets. There were no charges in connection with that incident.

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