SUV used as weapon

A Green River woman accused of trying to run over another woman with her BMW pleaded not guilty to a felony charge.

Heather Ortega, 40, appeared in the Third District Court of Judge Richard Lavery at an arraignment to aggravated assault and battery. If she is found guilty, she could face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000. A jury trial has been scheduled to take place May 11, at 9 a.m.

According to court documents, on Dec. 15, 2014, Green River Police officers responded to a disturbance report.

Upon arrival, officers spoke with Janette Bequette, who said her brother Gary Brewer was at her home sleeping when she heard someone pounding on the front door. The pounding was followed by Ortega shouting and asking for Brewer to come out of the home so she could give him a piece of his vehicle. Bequette said Ortega then slammed the part down on the landing outside of the door and went down the stairs.

Bequette opened the door to retrieve the part and told Ortega she and her mother were both “psycho.” Ortega ran up the stairs and tried to get into the home, but Bequette had closed the door before she got there. Ortega started banging on the door again; and Bequette called dispatch.

After Bequette was done talking on the phone, she looked outside and saw Ortega sitting in her BMW vehicle in the parking lot. Bequette walked down the stairs of the apartment and onto the grass between the apartment’s steps and the sidewalk so she could write down Ortega’s license plate number. While Bequette was attempting to read the license plate, Ortega allegedly drove her BMW over the sidewalk and onto the lawn where Bequette was standing. Bequette said she turned to go up the steps, but she fell before reaching the bottom step. She said her back was turned so she didn’t know how close Ortega came to hitting her with her vehicle.

Officers also spoke to Bonnie Dycus who lives at the same apartment complex. She told officers she heard a lot of yelling and that someone was pounding loudly on Bequette’s front door so she left her residence to see what was going on. Dycus said when she left her apartment she noticed that Bequette was standing on the front lawn of the complex looking at a silver-colored vehicle parked in the parking spot about 10 feet from where Bequette was standing.

Dycus said she saw the silver SUV drive forward onto the front lawn toward Bequette; and that Bequette had to run away from the vehicle toward the apartment building. Dycus said she ran toward Bequette in order to pull her to safety and onto the concrete steps of the apartment complex. Dycus said that Bequette fell down just as she attempted to pull her onto the steps.

Dycus said the BMW was only one foot away from where Bequette had fallen on the front steps of the apartment complex.

One officer observed that Bequette had a large bruise on her left shin and a small abrasion on her right elbow.

The officer also observed tire markings in the snow that came over the sidewalk and onto the front lawn from the parking spot where Ortega’s BMW was parked, the same spot where Ortega was seen sitting in the vehicle.