PIKEVILLE, Ky. — A Pike County woman has been charged with felony assault, after allegedly spitting in the face of a jail guard during a COVID-19 screening.

Police were called to an Elkhorn Creek home early on Christmas Eve, over reports that 43-year-old Thelma Rhinesmith, of Ashcamp, had been cut while breaking windows at the home.

When an officer arrived, he found Rhinesmith allegedly intoxicated, walking in the road, and cursing and threatening the occupants of the home.

The officer observed a cut on Rhinesmith’s hand and had an ambulance take her away for treatment. But on the way to the hospital, she allegedly jumped out of the back of the moving ambulance and ran away.

She returned to the home about an hour later and was arrested on numerous misdemeanor charges. But while be screened for COVID-19 at the Pike County Detention Center, she allegedly spit in the face of the jail guard.

The officer wrote in his report that Rhinesmith has hepatitis C.

She was then charged with third-degree assault of an officer, a felony punishable by 1-to-5 years in prison.