Woman arrested for taking ‘swing’ at police

A homeless woman who was allegedly speeding when she struck a telephone pole on Barclay Lane near the Knights of Columbus was arrested after taking a “swing” at a police officer and “thrashing about” while refusing to allow her vehicle to be towed, police said Monday.

At 4:07 p.m. Sunday, Emily Bateman, 24, was driving her 1998 Ford Explorer on Barclay Lane when she struck a telephone pole, sheering the pole in half, police said. The vehicle sustained front end damage, but Bateman and two passengers, both adults, were not injured, police said.

When a flatbed truck from Car’s Plus arrived on the scene to tow the Ford Explorer, Bateman “became belligerent and argumentative, insisting that no one was towing her vehicle,” police said.

As the flatbed backed towards Bateman’s vehicle she was directed to back away and refused to comply, according to a press release. A sergeant told her she would be arrested for obstructing governmental administration if she continued to prevent the tow truck operator from doing his job, police said.

As the sergeant struggled with Bateman, they both wound up on the ground and the flatbed operator, Donald Short, a retired police lieutenant, came to the sergeant’s aid, helped gain control of Bateman and assisted in the arrest, police said.

She was charged with the misdemeanors of obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest and the violation of speeding and released with a ticket for Saugerties Village Court.