Elderly woman charged with assaulting police officer at wrong address

An 88-year-old woman in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, has been charged with assaulting a police officer after wielding a knife and slapping an officer responding to an incorrect address. Phyllis Stankiewicz was released on her own recognizance after being arraigned on Friday on the incident at her home on Thursday afternoon. Officers were dispatched to 57 Wilson St. at about 3:50pm for a report of a disturbance involving someone with a baseball bat.

Police knocked several times and announced their presence at Stankiewicz's home and said they were there for a report of a crime, according to court files. When Stankiewicz came to the door, police said, she was carrying a knife in one hand, which was pointing toward one officer, at "waist level." Stankiewicz appeared, "angry and confused," and she was yelling, "There's no crime here! Get out of my house!," according to a police report.



One officer said Stankiewicz kept approaching them with the knife until she, "was just about sticking it into my stomach." An officer grabbed the knife and Stankiewicz allegedly tried to push her way past police and continued to push them in the chest while they tried to calm her down. Police said Stankiewicz was warned not to put her hands on them before she slapped one of them on the left side of his face, resulting in her arrest.

Stankiewicz continued to resist while they tried to place her into custody, requiring her to be placed on the ground to do so. After the arrest, a police dispatcher confirmed the initial call was for a disturbance at 57 Memorial Drive, one block north of Wilson Street. Stankiewicz was released after being booked, and ordered to appear in court for her arraignment on Friday. She pleaded not guilty in Central Berkshire District Court to one count of assault and battery on a police officer. She was released by Judge Michael J. Ripps, who scheduled a pre-trial hearing for Aug. 21.