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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sirens & Gavels

Woman who stalked deputy denied cigarettes, says “game on”

A Spokane woman who pleaded guilty to sending hundreds of sexually explicit and threatening text messages to a Spokane County Sheriff's deputy in 2010 allegedly chased a stranger in her car after he refused to buy her cigarettes.

"I guess it's game on then," the man reported Tina Blanchette, 44, said when he denied her the smokes at a Spokane Valley gas station on Sept. 2.

The man left the station after buying a newspaper, then noticed Blanchette driving a tan Mazda in his rearview mirror, according to court documents. Eventually, Blanchette rammed the man's truck, he said, and he ran away to hide in some nearby brush and call 911 while Blanchette returned to the gas station parking lot nearby.

Blanchette was granted two years probation after pleading guilty to a charge stemming from a series of texts she sent the law enforcement officer in 2010 after a marijuana growing bust she said put her life in danger. While vacationing in Hawaii, Blanchette sent the deputy texts that mentioned his family and her proficiency aiming a shotgun.

"U wanna tlk yet or u want me 2 make us all famous," one text read, according to court documents.

The deputy who interviewed Blanchette following the Spokane Valley incident in September wrote the 44-year-old was "acting paranoid and delusional" when he arrived at the gas station. She told him the man she chased was "a gang member and after her," according to the deputy's sworn statement.

Blanchette was arrested and booked on a charge of second-degree assault. She has undergone psychiatric evaluations and was released on her own recognizance last month. A trial in the case is tentatively scheduled to begin in late December.



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