Intoxicated Woman Kicks Paramedic While Out on Bail for Allegedly Kicking Cop: Police

North Penn Now Staff•

46-year-old Courtenay Jernigan, as seen in her booking image from her arrest in September 2019.

A Hatfield Township woman who is accused of drunk driving into a fence and then assaulting responding police is facing a new set of charges, stemming from an incident that occurred on Aug. 16 while she was out on bail.

Courtenay Jernigan, 46, has been charged with one felony count of aggravated assault, in addition to misdemeanor charges of simple assault, reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct, and summary charges of harassment and public drunkenness, in connection with the Aug. 16 incident.

According to the criminal complaint, police responded to a home along the 2400 block of East Vine Street at 1 p.m. to assist Jernigan in regards to her retrieving clothing from the residence. Upon arrival, police said Jernigan walked past them and they noted a strong odor of alcohol emanating from her person.

Police described Jernigan as unsteady on her feet with slurred speech, and said she began to argue with police inside the home regarding leaving her clothing there. Police added that Jernigan was incoherent and began walking around the home screaming and yelling for no apparent reason. She was then taken into custody for public drunkenness, the report states.

Once Jernigan was handcuffed, police said she began to complain of being unable to breathe, so they placed her sitting upright in the rear of a patrol vehicle and requested that the Volunteer Medical Service Corps of Lansdale respond to the scene to provide medical care. Upon arrival, the paramedic attempted to assist police with moving Jernigan from the rear of the patrol vehicle onto a gurney so they could place her in the ambulance, at which point Jernigan allegedly kicked the paramedic in the arm with the bottoms of both of her feet, the report states.

Jernigan was arraigned the following morning by Magisterial District Judge Ed Levine, who set bail at $5,000 unsecured. Her next court appearance on the new charges is a preliminary hearing on Sept. 16 at 1:15 p.m. in front of Judge Levine.

Court records indicate that Jernigan’s case from September 2019 remains active at the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, though current proceedings are not currently available. In that case, Jernigan was charged with one felony count of aggravated assault, as well as misdemeanor counts of DUI, sale of a controlled substance and restrictions on alcoholic beverages, stemming from an incident that occurred on Sept. 20, 2019, in Hatfield Township. (Read about the September 2019 incident here.)

Though Jernigan was initially remanded to county jail after failing to post $25,000 cash bail, court records indicate her bail was reduced to 10% of $1,000 on Oct. 10, 2019, and Jernigan posted bail the next day. However, Jernigan’s bail was forfeited on Dec. 4, 2019, but it was later reinstated on Jan. 6, 2020, and Jernigan has been free since that time.

Prior to her current arrest and the September 2019 arrest, Jernigan pleaded guilty to two felony counts of child endangerment in January 2015, and she was sentenced to 15 months of confinement for each count, according to an article by The Reporter. Those charges stemmed from an arrest in 2014 in which Jernigan left her two young children unattended in what was described as a filthy, dangerous home, while she was out getting drunk.

(All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.)