Court documents: DUI crash suspect spits, attempts to bite Deaconess nurses

A woman facing eight charges from a DUI crash on Saturday spit on nurses at Deaconess Hospital and attempted to bite them, court records say.

A Spokane police officer “observed a reckless vehicle” traveling east on Sprague Avenue toward Havana Street at 10:15 p.m., according to a Spokane Police Department news release. The officer did not have time to respond before the vehicle, driven by 30-year-old Cheyann L. Bailey, sped through a red light at the intersection of Sprague and Havana, going over 70 mph, and crashed into another vehicle , court documents said. A passenger in the car struck by Bailey’s car was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.

Court records said Bailey’s speech was slurred and her eyes were red when police spoke to her at the hospital. She was refusing a blood draw from staff, court records said. A Spokane police officer had to obtain a warrant to get a blood test. The officer had to hold her “left hand down and her head still” in order for the nurses to take the blood. While getting a CAT scan, Bailey spit in a nurse’s face and eyes and tried to bite her hand, court records said. She also spit on two other nurses while they were trying to conduct an evaluation.

Bailey is facing three counts of third-degree assault, one count of vehicular assault, two counts of operating a vehicle illegally, one count of failing to transfer the title of her car and one count of obstructing an officer.

Deaconess spokesperson Kevin Maloney said due to patient privacy, the hospital cannot comment on the incident.