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Parking Officer Suffers Head, Other Injuries In Road Rage Incident

November 9, 2005

A Denver woman is accused of deliberately ramming her car into another vehicle and running down a city traffic aide before fleeing and crashing into a pole in downtown Lancaster.

Police arrested and charged Jamie Jo Frederick, 35, with a count of simple assault for hitting a vehicle on West King Street at Penn Square, and one count of aggravated assault for intentionally striking Linda Duschl, a parking enforcement aide, police said. Duschl, who suffered leg, arm and head injuries, was taken to Lancaster General Hospital and was listed in good condition Saturday night. Duschl was resting and was not able to talk about the incident, according to a visitor who answered the phone in her hospital room.

Frederick, who had to be removed by police from her car after she crashed at North Lime and East Clay streets, was also admitted to the hospital for minor injuries, according to a police report. 'I think it is unbelievable someone did this,' said Mayor Charlie Smithgall. At the time of the incident, Smithgall was downtown, which was bustling with the Harvest Breakfast at Central Market, the Lancaster Art Walk and the Jazz Brews and Blues in Binns Park. 'We never counted on anything like this; accidents happen but this wasn't an accident,' the mayor said. 'It was totally uncalled for.'

The string of bizarre events started about 10 a.m., when a motorist called county control and reported that a driver, later identified as Frederick, was driving a Chevrolet recklessly. The caller said the Chevrolet nearly struck a vehicle near Charlotte Street before heading east on West King Street, the report said. In the first block of West King, the Chevrolet struck the rear of a car stopped at Penn Square, the report said. The driver of the car that was hit got out of her car and approached Frederick to collect information. Frederick then punched the woman, police said, and got back into her car.

As North Queen Street was blocked for the downtown events, Duschl was on duty directing traffic. Police said that the woman who had been assaulted then watched as Frederick looked at Duschl and accelerated, striking Duschl. According to the report, the witness said Frederick had plenty of room to avoid Duschl. The report said Frederick then drove east on King Street and then north on North Lime Street. Lt. Richard Fogie, who was in the area on a motorcycle, began following her.

With the help of a male motorist who spotted Frederick at East Orange Street, Fogie caught up with Frederick at East Walnut Street. He told her to pull over, the report said, but she instead accelerated, drove north on Lime at a high rate of speed and ran red lights. At East Clay Street, she struck another vehicle and went through the intersection before striking a pole and coming to a stop, the report said. The police report said striking Duschl was clearly not an accident but an intentional act. Police expect to file other charges, both vehicular and criminal, against Frederick. Officers were thanking motorists for their assistance and are asking witnesses to call them at 735-3300 to set up interviews. They are specifically asking for the man who directed Fogie on East Orange Street and North Lime to call.

I-25 Single-Car Rollover Kills Man, Passenger in Critical Condition

An Alamogordo, N.M., man was killed and two people injured in a single-car rollover crash on southbound Interstate 25 near the Buckeye Road exit north of Wellington. The accident closed down the southbound lanes of I-25 for about five hours, said Master Trooper Ron Watkins of the Colorado State Patrol.

A 2002 Ford Explorer driven by Dina Scott, 35, of Alamogordo, was southbound when the vehicle went out of control, and veered back and forth across the southbound lanes before running off the left side of the road and rolling 2' times, according to a report from the Colorado State Patrol. Donald A. Scott, 28, of Alamogordo, was pronounced dead at the scene. Dina Scott was taken to Poudre Valley Hospital, where she was listed in critical condition. A 13-year-old girl also in the car suffered moderate injuries and was treated and released from PVH.

Watkins was unclear how the three were related. All were wearing their seat belts and neither drugs nor alcohol are suspected to have played a role in the crash, according to the CSP report. Any charges are pending the completion of the investigation, Watkins said in a statement.