A Bradford woman is facing allegations she was running on East Main Street with no clothes on, and she caused enough damage to a vehicle that it was totaled.
Melissa M. Bunting, 39, of 1281 E. Main St., was arraigned Friday before District Judge Richard Luther.
The McKean County 911 Center received several calls on the alleged incident, and police were dispatched at 7:44 a.m. Jan. 13, according to Foster Township Police Officer Kevin Shaffer. “It was a report of a woman running around in the 1200 block of East Main Street naked and covered in blood trying to get into vehicles.”
He related that one of the vehicles she encountered was a box truck that she tried to get in and a truck she ran in front of. One 911 caller, Janna Davis of Olean, N.Y., was asked by the 911 Center “to keep an eye on (Bunting) until we had police and EMS there.”
She pulled her car over and tried to give Bunting a blanket through the window. “It was cold, only 25 or 26 degrees,” Shaffer noted. However, the doors automatically unlocked when she parked and opened the window, and Bunting entered the car and started to assault her, “screaming at the top of her lungs.” Bunting said, “Drive me to the church,” meaning the Open Arms Community Church.
Davis, who was able to get out of the car, suffered a chipped tooth, fat lip and sore neck, and went to the hospital in Olean when she went home, according to Shaffer.
Meanwhile, Bunting locked herself in the car, and she was inside screaming when police arrived. Damage to the inside of the vehicle came to $21,933.56, and the car was totaled, Shaffer said.
Bradford City Police arrived on scene first, followed by Shaffer and Bradford Township Police, and they had to break the windows to get Bunting out. They handcuffed her and took her with the blanket to the hospital, he said. When asked about the blood Bunting had on her, Shaffer explained there was also damage at her home, such as broken windows, and she likely suffered injuries there, which required stitches.
Bunting is charged with criminal mischief, a felony; misdemeanor charges of simple assault, indecent exposure and open lewdness and summary charges of harassment and disorderly conduct, according to Shaffer.
She was released on $25,000 unsecured bail, and she is scheduled to appear in Central Court on Thursday.
