Accused of driving away with an Evanston, Wyoming, police officer hanging from her car after a grocery store refused to sell her prescription drugs, a local woman could face up to 22-and-a-half years behind bars.
Diseree Lee Zacher, who turns 42 this year, is charged in Uinta County District Court with two counts of felony police interference, one misdemeanor interference charge, reckless endangering, and trespassing.
She’s scheduled to give a plea Thursday.
Evanston Police Department Officer Aaron Cheney went to the local Smith’s pharmacy to meet with Zacher the morning of Feb. 19, the officer wrote in an evidentiary affidavit.
Smith’s staff called Cheney there because they didn’t want to sell Zacher prescription narcotics: she’d been “med seeking” at different doctors’ offices and pharmacies, they told police.
The document says Zacher agreed to step outside to speak with Cheney, and he told her she was being trespassed from the store, meaning she couldn’t lawfully be there.
She demanded to speak with the manager, the affidavit says.
Cheney said she could do that, but had to do it from a location off Smith’s property.
Calling The Cops, On The Cops
Zacher walked away from Cheney, locked herself in her vehicle and called the manager, says the document.
Cheney yelled through the window that Zacher was still on Smith’s property and needed to leave, but she countered, saying she’d die without the medications she needed, the affidavit says.
Sgt. Jeffrey Liechty responded to the scene.
The agents learned that Zacher had called the authorities on them — she was on the phone with 911 dispatch saying officers were harassing her, the affidavit says.
When she opened the window, officers tried to pull her out of the truck due to her trespassing, the affidavit continues. Cheney was leaning into the truck as she put it in gear and drove away, it says.
Liechty pulled Cheney out of the truck “before he was dragged any significant distance,” the document adds.
Zacher sped away, showing disregard for pedestrians walking through the parking lot, Cheney wrote. She stopped near an electric vehicle charging station.
Liechty found the passenger door unlocked, and the two agents got into the vehicle from opposite sides, Cheney wrote, adding that she put the truck into gear again and sped off with both officers in the vehicle with her.
Cheney wrested control of the gear selector from Zacher and put the truck in park, then he took the keys out of the ignition and threw them into the passenger seat, he wrote.
The affidavit says officers pulled Zacher out of the truck and arrested her while she screamed about police brutality and her various medical ailments.
Authorities took her to the emergency room, sometimes having to carry her bodily as she yelled, berated officers and refused to walk, says the document.
Once she was back in the caged portion of a patrol vehicle, she hiked her feet against the window as if to kick it, and officers rushed to put leg restraints on her before taking her to jail, Cheney wrote.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
