Woman Waved Snakes At Officers

A woman in Shamokin, Pa., was arrested after she waved several rattle snakes at police officers in her home, according to an Associated Press report.

Police Chief John Brown said officers answered a call recently about a woman threatening to harm herself and found the woman in her basement holding a knife to her throat.She put down the knife but began waving the snakes at the officers, and was herself bitten on the arms and face, the report said. She put down the snakes and again grabbed the knife, but Mount Carmel police arrived with a stun weapon and used it to immobilize her, Brown said.

The woman was taken to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville for treatment of the snake bites, and officers brought aquariums back to the station containing two western diamondback rattlesnakes, a pygmy rattlesnake and two copperheads, each about 30 inches long, Brown said.

"I can't get my evidence guy to put them in the evidence locker," he said. Zoo America at Hershey offered to take the snakes, but Brown said he hadn't found out if he could legally allow that.

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Wow! Some people!

I would say that was funny, but it does not look kindly on our hobby....

Crazy lady

I do not think that her being psycho will affect our hobby in any way, but then again some people think anyone who owns a snake is nuts.

Here's the current situation with the snakes. Seems the police chief it having to keep them himself until they can figure out what to do.
I especially like the part about how he couldn't make his evidence guy take them lol.
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SHAMOKIN - Lisa White arrived at work Wednesday morning to a surprise in the office she shares with police Chief John Brown: two aquariums containing five snakes.

"Why are there snakes in the office?" asked White, who is the chief's secretary.

"I wasn't going to sit in there," she said. Later, though, "I decided the heck with it. They're not so bad. They are pretty interesting as they move around."

Receptionist Mallary Shingara had a similar shock when she arrived for her shift at 2 p.m. and was urged to go into the chief's office. There she saw the snakes -- two western diamondback rattlesnakes, a pygmy rattlesnake and two copperheads, each about 30 inches long.

"I jumped," Shingara said. "It scared the crap out of me. I dropped my cell phone and almost my coffee."

The snakes are guests of the Shamokin police, thanks to a Wednesday night police call in the 400 block of South Market Street.

Brown said two officers encountered Terry Jackson, 36, who was holding a knife to her throat and threatening suicide. Jackson put down the knife but grabbed snakes and waved them at the officers, Brown said. In the process, she was bitten on the arms and face, he said.

Jackson put down the snakes and again picked up the knife, but Mount Carmel police arrived with a stun weapon and zapped her twice, immobilizing her, Brown said.

Jackson was taken to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville for treatment of the snake bites. She initially was reported in critical condition in the intensive care unit, but additional information is not being released.

Police said they did not know the circumstances of Jackson having the snakes.

The Shamokin officers took the aquariums containing the snakes to headquarters, presenting Brown with a dilemma.

"I'm stuck with them," he said. "I can't get my evidence guy to put them in the evidence locker."

Zoo America at Hershey has offered to quarantine the snakes, but Brown said yesterday he doesn't know if he legally can let them go. Jackson faces two counts of recklessly endangering when she gets out of the hospital, and the snakes would be evidence, Brown said.

Obtaining a court order forfeiting the snakes to the borough would empower him to get rid of the snakes, but that could not be done until Jackson is well enough to contest the forfeiture, he said.

So, for a while at least, the chief's quarters will be a little crowded -- and noisy. Brown said the diamondbacks' rattles can be heard throughout the station.


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Here's the latest update on this story.

SHAMOKIN - A woman who was bitten by poisonous snakes she allegedly waved at police officers will get her day in court -- as will the unusual evidence.

Terry L. Jackson, 36, of Shamokin, is to appear for a preliminary hearing before District Judge John Gembic on Dec. 12 on charges of recklessly endangering and disorderly conduct.

Jackson spent about three weeks at Geisinger Medical Center recovering from snake bites she received during an encounter with Shamokin police last month.

While Jackson was in the hospital, the prime evidence -- two western diamondback rattlesnakes, a pigmy rattlesnake and two copperheads, each about 30 inches long -- waited in aquariums in Police Chief John Brown's office until they would be needed in court.

The case began at 4:15 a.m. Oct. 25 when Shamokin police responded to a report of a woman with a knife at Jackson's home in the 400 block of South Market Street. They encountered Jackson holding a 10-inch hunting knife in a threatening manner, the arrest affidavit states.

The officers reported they tried to talk Jackson into putting down the knife but she picked up a snake. Holding a snake in one hand and the knife in the other, she allegedly told the officers, "I dare you come after me now."

Jackson then picked up four other snakes and waved them at the officers, the affidavit states. She was bitten on an arm and her face and officers subdued her with a stun weapon, according to police reports.

"I was in shock," police officer Darwin Tobias III said of the encounter. "It was a very delicate situation. Definitely, you are not trained for that."

Professionals have tended to the reptiles' care and feeding while the snakes have been in the police chief's office.

Clerks who were hesitant about sharing office space with the snakes say they have gotten used to them.

Attempts to reach Jackson for comment were unsuccessful.

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Here's another recent update to the story. This one includes information from the woman herself. There's also a photo of her at the link.

Suspect: Plea bargain likely in snake case

SHAMOKIN — Terry L. Jackson said she regrets using five venomous snakes in an Oct. 25 standoff with police, not because she was bitten three times and fell into a coma, but due to bad publicity the reptiles are getting as a result.

"I don't want people to be afraid of snakes," the 36-year-old said. "It was not in my head whatsoever to hurt anyone."

She showed up alone at District Judge John Gembic III's courtroom Tuesday to appear at a preliminary hearing on two counts of recklessly endangering another person and disorderly conduct.

Represented by public defender Michael Romance, Mrs. Jackson waived her right to the hearing and said she expects to reach a deal with the commonwealth, which will allow her to plead no contest to one count of reckless endangerment in exchange for the withdrawal of the two other charges.

A hearing in the Northumberland County Court of Common Pleas is scheduled for March 5.

The details that led Mrs. Jackson to court are a bit hazy, she said, but were a result of depression and alcoholism.

Shamokin police officers were called to her 419 S. Market St. home at 4:20 a.m. Oct. 25 when her husband, Darrell, was unable to enter the locked house where Mrs. Jackson was threatening to kill herself.

Once they gained entry, police found Mrs. Jackson holding a 10-inch hunting knife.

She said she wasn't taking medication for the depression she was diagnosed with more than five years ago and that night she was morose over the recent loss of two of her four children to foster care and a failing relationship with her husband.

Just three weeks earlier, Mrs. Jackson said, she was released from rehabilitation and had not had a drink in weeks until that evening, when she consumed a six-pack of beer.

When police arrived at her house, she knew from a previous experience they were coming to take her to the hospital.

That's when she began picking up five venomous rattlesnakes and copperhead snakes she's owned for two years as a small venom-milking business.

"I knew they wouldn't come near me with the snakes," Mrs. Jackson said, denying she was trying to harm the police.

She ended up holding all five snakes in her right hand while keeping a firm grip on the knife in her left hand.

"I'd brought them all up as babies. I was used to handling them," she said.

Her experience didn't protect her, though, and Mrs. Jackson was bitten twice on the hand and once on the face.

Police eventually got the situation under control by using a Taser gun on Mrs. Jackson.

At Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, she suffered an allergic reaction to the anti-venom and fell into a coma for six days. She remained in critical condition for several days and was released from the hospital on Nov. 9.

Mrs. Jackson said when she got out of the hospital she had no place to stay and her other animals, including several non-venomous snakes, a parrot and alligator, were taken in by a friend. She closed the exotic pet shop she'd operated for just a few months in Shamokin.

The five venomous snakes were taken by police as evidence and later turned over to the Hershey zoo.

"I was glad they were donated to the zoo and not put down," Mrs. Jackson said.

Today, she and her husband are living in a Selinsgrove motel. She continues to work, is in counseling and regularly attends AA meetings.

Mrs. Jackson, who suffered one previous bite from a venomous snake about a year ago, said physicians warned her that one more bite could be fatal.

She's taking the advice to heart, and despite her lifelong love of reptiles, will not be breeding or caring for venomous snakes anymore.

"I'm not getting back in the business. I won't take the chance," she said. "I was lucky this time. I still have all my fingers, but they're numb."

While she struggles to get back on her feet, Mrs. Jackson has been a bit surprised by her notoriety.

While attending a recent Children and Youth hearing in Northumberland County Court, she was approached by well-wishers who shook her hand and requested autographs, she said.

She obliged them, signing the notes "Snake Lady."

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