Butler woman sentenced for DUI, kicking at police
A Butler County judge sentenced a woman to jail after she pleaded guilty to driving drunk, getting into a fight with a good Samaritan, kicking at troopers and attempting to grab one of the officer's Tasers.
Amy R. Seybert, 43, of Butler apologized to the two state police troopers she fought with and she blamed her behavior on what she called a mind-altering mixture of CBD, a chemical compound from a marijuana plant that doesn't get the user high, and pharmaceutical pills.
She pleaded guilty Nov. 2 to driving under the influence, recklessly endangering another person, resisting arrest and simple assault. Judge William Shaffer sentenced her to 72 hours to six months in jail, 18 months of probation, 25 hours of community service and a $1,000 fine. Seybert was immediately paroled from jail with the agreement that she spends the first seven days of her parole on house arrest with electronic monitoring.
Police arrested Seybert on June 24, 2019, after they were called for a report of a sport utility vehicle parked on Route 68 with a woman believed to be impaired and fighting with people who stopped to help her.
Trooper David Wellington arrived to find Seybert tussling on the ground with a 55-year-old man on top of her, according to charging documents.
The man, a retired trooper who happened upon the scene, told police that he saw the woman and “could see something wasn't right,” Wellington said in his affidavit. He stopped “to see if (the defendant) was OK.”
He also called police.
Seybert allegedly struck the retired trooper, who took her to the ground and waited for police to arrive.
During the disturbance, police said, the woman threw a vape pen at the man and admitted to smoking THC oil.
But in court Thursday, Seybert said it was CBD.
Wellington squatted down beside the man and tried to assist him with the woman while waiting for an ambulance crew.
“Seybert then reached back and grabbed onto my (T) aser,” Wellington said.
The trooper broke the woman's grip and placed her in handcuffs. But she continued to struggle and kicked the officer, documents said.
In the back of a cruiser, Seybert allegedly kicked and screamed obscenities. Police accused her of trying to kick out a side window.
When Trooper Francis Walters arrived, he and Wellington tried to restrain the defendant in the police car, documents said, and she kicked at Walters.
On the drive to the barracks in Butler Township, police said, Seybert again admitted to smoking THC oil while driving and “being addicted to opiates and heroin.”
At the barracks, she refused to submit to a blood test and asked for an attorney.
But on Thursday, Seybert disputed the claim and said at the time she was taking a prescription for fentanyl, a synthetic opioid.
Seybert's lawyer, public defender Joseph Smith, asked Shaffer to waive all fines because Seybert is indigent.
“I'm just trying to do my best,” Seybert said.