Woman arrested after reportedly attacking friend, trying to grab teen

Carolyn Shepherd, 41, Salem, was arrested for battery, public intoxication and disorderly conduct after reportedy attacking a friend at the friend’s home on Monday, Sept. 30, just after 9 p.m.

According to the incident and supplementary reports regarding this case, officers were dispatched to a home on Ridgeview Drive in Salem after a call came in reporting a verbal argument that turned physical. They arrived at the home and were met by Sharon Brewer, who said Shepherd had arrived at her home around 4 p.m. Brewer said she had about three mixed drinks, but didn’t know how many Shepherd had. She said Shepherd had fallen and may have been bleeding because she said there was blood on the back of her chair, and that Brewer didn’t have an open wound.

Brewer said Shepherd got back up and said she “won’t ascend,” but Brewer said she didn’t know what Shepherd meant by that.

That’s when Brewer claimed Shepherd tried to choke her, but Brewer laughed and told Shepherd to leave. She claimed Shepherd responded by biting Brewer’s right bicep. When Brewer got the phone to call 911, Shepherd began to leave, calling out profanities. Brewer denied ever striking Shepherd, even in defense.

She said she didn’t want to be checked out by EMS, but did want to press charges.

The officers checked the neighborhood for Shepherd, but didn’t find her. Then, Salem Police Sergeant James Moore received a call about a woman matching Shepherd's description trying to grab a 17-year-old boy on Martinsburg Road.

The teen’s mother said her son had come inside and told her an intoxicated woman had tried to grab him. He said he had been walking by their house when a woman jumped out from behind a tree, trying to grab him and scare him. He told Moore the woman had cut through a couple trailers and headed west on Caleb Street.

Salem Police Lieutenant Russell Wilcoxson eventually found her at the end of Caleb and High Streets in a yard.

When questioned, Shepherd stated she had been trying to be funny.

Officers administered a portable breath test and Shepherd blew a .16. They arrested her and took her to the Washington County Detention Center.

While she was being booked, Moore asked Shepherd about the incident at Ridgeview Drive earlier that night. Shepherd claimed a man named Kenny had arrived in a truck with a “heavier dude,” and that Brewer had told her to dance for the “heavier dude,” but Shepherd refused and “slammed a half of a half pint of alcohol.” She claimed she didn’t recall the altercation and denied having bit Brewer.

This is not Shepherd’s first run-in with the law. She was arrested for criminal trespass in May 2016 and for disorderly conduct, possession of marijuana hash oil, hashish or salvia, and possession of paraphernalia in September 2018.