COLINGTON, N.C. — The Dare County Sheriff’s Office last Friday arrested the woman one of its deputies stunned and then shot in Colington on March 17.
Jennifer Leigh Tesner, 49, was charged with one count of felony assault on a law enforcement officer.
March 17 was listed as the offense date on the arrest warrant, which was issued on March 20, according to online case information.
Tesner was arrested the afternoon of April 26 under the statute for assault on an officer with a firearm or other deadly weapon, which the statute lists as a Class E felony.
She was released the same day under a $80,000 secured bond, according to online case information. Her first appearance hearing in Dare District Court was Monday but apparently was continued to May 9.
It is unclear what happened, as “electronic warrants assigned” appears by the May 9 date in online case information.
Tesner’s address is listed as in the 300 block of Harbour Road. That is the same street where the shooting took place in the unincorporated Dare County neighborhood of Colington Harbour.
The Dare County Sheriff’s Office has not answered any questions about the incident since it happened, nor has it released the name of the officer, who was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).
The Dare County Sheriff’s Office’s only press release about the incident did not detail an assault on an officer.
The person who called 911 at 7:05 p.m. on March 17 reported that a woman was on their property with a knife and was “acting erratically,” according to the March 18 press release from the Dare County Sheriff’s Office.
The responding deputy arrived around 7:10 p.m. and encountered a 49-year-old woman walking down Harbour Road, according to the release.
“The deputy made repeated attempts to talk to this individual; however, she would not comply with commands,” the release continued. “At that point, the deputy deployed their taser and then fired their weapon, striking the female. She was transported to The Outer Banks Hospital for care.”
The deputy shocked the woman twice in the street, then shot her, a neighbor told WAVY-TV.
After being stunned, the woman dropped the knife in the yard before running up the stairs to the porch, which is where the officer shot her in a way not intended to kill, Angel Taylor told WAVY.
Taylor said the woman’s boyfriend shared with her and with other neighbors Sunday night that “she’s actually been having a psychotic break for like the past week and a half.”
The Dare County Sheriff’s Office has not answered questions about the nature or extent of the woman’s injuries or how long she spent in the hospital.
Three days after the shooting, Tesner was apparently still hospitalized.
SBI spokesperson Angie Grube confirmed on March 20 that the woman was alive and “in stable condition.”
In an April 16 email, Grube said the woman was released from the hospital but, “I do not know when and I believe she was arrested. You’ll want to check with the local agency for that information.”
The SBI investigation into the officer-involved shooting is still ongoing, Grube confirmed in a Wednesday morning email.
This was the second time a Dare County Sheriff’s Office deputy shot a citizen in just over five months.
Deputy Edward Francis Glaser III fatally shot Sylvester Demetrius Selby on Oct. 2 in a part of Manteo that is also unincorporated Dare County. A special prosecutor decided Feb. 21 not to pursue charges against Glaser, who remains listed as a sheriff’s office employee on the county’s website staff directory.
