ARLINGTON, VA — An Arlington man is facing multiple charges after police said he assaulted several people during two incidents about an hour apart, including pepper-spraying one man and striking a sheriff's deputy who intervened in a fight.
Shaundrea Jerrell Lawrence, 25, of no fixed address, was arrested Friday and charged with assault on law enforcement, malicious wounding by caustic agent and five counts of assault and battery, according to the Arlington County Police Department.
Court records filed Monday identify the malicious wounding and assault-on-law-enforcement charges as felonies. Lawrence remained listed in custody in Arlington General District Court records.
Police said officers were called around 11 p.m. Friday to the 2000 block of 14th Street N. to investigate the report of an assault. Investigators determined that Lawrence and another man had been involved in a verbal dispute outside that escalated into a physical altercation, during which Lawrence allegedly struck the man.
A responding sheriff's deputy saw the fight and attempted to separate the two men, police said. Lawrence struck the deputy before additional officers arrived and took him into custody, according to ACPD.
During the investigation, police determined that Lawrence had struck two other people at the scene before the fight, reports said.
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Investigators also said Lawrence matched the description of a person involved in another assault approximately an hour earlier near North Quincy Street and Wilson Boulevard. In that incident, two men were struck and one was pepper-sprayed, according to police.
Minor injuries were reported in the two incidents.
Court records show Lawrence faces a felony charge under Virginia Code § 18.2-52 for malicious injury by acid or another caustic substance and a Class 6 felony charge under § 18.2-57(C) for assaulting a law enforcement officer.
The court records also show multiple Class 1 misdemeanor assault-and-battery cases stemming from the Sept. 25 incidents. One court entry describes an additional count as attempted assault and battery.
Lawrence appeared for an arraignment Monday, which court records list as continued. The felony cases are scheduled for preliminary hearings at 11:30 a.m. Nov. 30, while the misdemeanor cases are scheduled for adjudicatory hearings that day.
Court records also show Lawrence had been charged with misdemeanor unlawful entry in Arlington following a March 21 incident. That case was not prosecuted.
The charges are allegations. Lawrence is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
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