WOMAN TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER AND ASSAULT FOR DRIVING INTO SHERIFF’S DEPUTY WITH SUV AT JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT

WOMAN TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER AND ASSAULT FOR DRIVING INTO SHERIFF’S DEPUTY WITH SUV AT JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT

SANTA ANA – A woman was charged today with attempting to murder an Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) deputy after trying to run him over with her sport utility vehicle (SUV) at John Wayne Airport (JWA). Rebecca Lee McLaughlin, 48, Newport Beach, is charged with one felony count each of attempted murder, aggravated assault on a peace officer, and aggravated assault. If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of life in state prison. The People will be requesting she be held on $1 million bail at her arraignment scheduled today, July 18, 2013, in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana. The time is to be determined.

At approximately 10:30 p.m. on July 16, 2013, McLaughlin is accused of driving her Toyota Sequoia through a closed-lot entrance booth and breaking the barricade to enter a parking structure at JWA. The defendant is accused of driving through the parking structure before attempting to exit through the same entrance gate. An OCSD deputy, who was patrolling the area on his bicycle, rode up next to the defendant in an attempt to stop her.

The defendant is accused of stopping her full-size SUV and turning her steering wheel toward the OCSD deputy, who was standing over his bike approximately 25 feet away. McLaughlin is accused of accelerating at the victim and hitting him with her vehicle, throwing him approximately 20 feet inside the parking structure and destroying his bicycle. The defendant is accused of failing to stop and continuing to exit the parking structure before driving over an elevated curb and hitting a parking pole. The OCSD deputy, who suffered minor cuts and bruises, ran to the disabled vehicle and arrested her.

Deputy District Attorney Marc Caress is prosecuting this case.

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