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Knife-wielding woman jailed after threats, assault on police

A Lansford woman is behind bars on $250,000 straight cash bail after threatening several people with a large knife, assaulting police officers and damaging a car window. There were no serious injuries.

Ashly Tansley, 20, of 149 W. Ridge St. was charged with eight counts of felony aggravated assault; four counts of terroristic threats and eight counts of simple assault. She is also charged with resisting arrest; institutional vandalism; and a summary count of criminal mischief.According to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Officer Jeff Ohl, the call about a woman with a knife came in at 1:42 a.m. Wednesday. Ohl and Officer Robert Shubeck went to the apartment building where Tansley lives in unit 1-A. While en route, the dispatcher said the woman had left the apartment and gone around the corner into apartment 1-B.Upon arrival, the officers spoke with victims Joshua Pruitt, Amanda Rehrig, Crylinne Sheppard and Cynthia Cauthen, who identified the person with the knife as Tansley.Pruitt and Cauthen said they were in Tansley's apartment, talking with Tansley's grandmother, about an incident that had occurred about an hour earlier, when they called police because Tansley allegedly abandoned her child and the grandmother had to be summoned to care for the child.Pruitt and Cauthen stated that Tansley had come into the apartment with a large knife, and ran toward Cauthen, swinging the knife and yelling "I'm going to (expletive) stab you, you fat (expletive)."When Pruitt stepped toward Tansley to protect Cauthen, Tansley swung the knife at his face, yelling that she would "cut both their throats for calling the cops." She then said something about their roommates and ran into their apartment.Rehrig and Sheppard said they were in their bedroom when Tansley ran in with the knife, yelling "you (expletive) are dead tonight."Rehrig and Sheppard said they both hopped out of bed, and Tansley left the room and went outside. Once outside, Tansley again swung the knife toward Pruitt, who was able to take the knife away. He suffered a cut finger.Tansley went back into her apartment.Ohl and Shubeck went into Tansley's apartment and told her she was under arrest. Tansley reacted by throwing punches and kicks at the officers as they arrested her, despite numerous warnings to stop.Once placed in the back seat of the cruiser, she screamed obscenities at people, then kicked the rear window out of its track.