Hempfield woman charged with assaulting police, jail guards, released to await trial

A Hempfield woman charged with assaults against a police officer and guards at the Westmoreland County Prison was released from jail on unsecured bond this week.

Sonya Rae Connors, 52, had been behind bars since her arrest in January after she was charged with a felony count of aggravated assault, resisting arrest and other offenses in connection with a Jan. 4 incident at a Burger King restaurant in Youngwood.

Police said Connors went into the restaurant’s kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee and attempted to leave without paying after she consumed a juice drink, again without paying. According to court records, police said Connors threw the hot drink at officers who responded to the call.

While in jail, police accused Connors of verbally abusing and spitting at a female guard who attempted to assist her in completing an application for a public defender.

In April, authorities again charged Connors with aggravated assault of a jail guard after she was accused of tossing a cup of urine under the door of her cell towards another corrections officer.

Connors had been held in custody at the jail in lieu of bonds totalling $65,000.

On Tuesday, Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio released Connors from jail on unsecured bonds. The judge said Connors, who had been treated at Torrance State Hospital earlier this summer, could await trial from home as long as she continued with medications prescribed for a mental health condition.

The judge also required Connors to live with her mother in Greensburg and report regularly to the county’s probation department.

Connors’ trials are scheduled for November.