Woman pleads guilty in assault on officer

A Fort Hall woman pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court to assaulting a federal officer.

On Feb. 18, a caller told Fort Hall police shots had been fired by people dressed in black who were running from the area. When the responding officer arrived, he saw a person in a black coat. He tried to talk with the person, later identified as Caitlin Eagle, 24, of Fort Hall. She gave the officer a false name and was uncooperative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho said Thursday.

The officer smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic drink on her, a violation of Fort Hall tribal law, and tried to arrest her. As he was putting her in handcuffs, she became combative and struck the officer in the face several times.

The officer was able to handcuff Eagle and with another officer’s help got her into the police car.

The injured officer was treated at the hospital for abrasions on his cheek and nose.

According to the news release, an assault on a Fort Hall police officer is punished as an assault on a federal officer under federal law. The charge of assault on a federal officer is punishable by up to eight years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.

Eagle will be sentenced in March.