A June trial has been set for a woman charged with failure to comply, obstructing justice and tampering with evidence after prosecutors say she transported an escaped convict and assisted him in fleeing police.
Jamie Victoria Jarrett, 38, of Galloway, entered a not guilty plea Wednesday morning to a charge of failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, a third-degree felony; one count of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony and one count of obstructing justice, a fifth-degree felony.
Assistant Delaware County Prosecutor Cory Goe said at the hearing that on April 1, Jarrett assisted Troy B.T. Byrd, 28, after he escaped from the SEPTA Correction Facility in Nelsonville, Ohio. Goe said that on April 4, law enforcement received a tip from a woman who said Jarrett came to her and asked her for help.
Police report they spotted Byrd in a vehicle at the Dollar General on London Road in Delaware and attempted to pull the vehicle over but Jarrett refused to comply and led authorities on a 14 mile long chase down U.S. 42 and into Union County where Jarrett eventually pulled over and she and Byrd were taken into custody.
Goe said the failure to comply charge rises to the level of a third-degree felony because Jarrett caused a substantial risk to the public by traveling at speeds 10 miles over the speed limit and running several red lights. Fleeing police and assisting Byrd are also the basis for the obstructing justice charge.
Goe said the tampering with evidence charge stems from Jarrett removing the SIM card from her cell phone and then throwing away the cell phone to avoid authorities locating her with the phone’s GPS.
Delaware County Common Pleas Judge Everett Krueger accepted Jarrett’s not guilty plea and scheduled her to stand trial on June 29 and set her bond at $100,000.
Jarrett was in the Delaware County Jail Wednesday afternoon.
Jarrett and Byrd were indicted on April 14 by a Delaware County Grand Jury. Byrd was also charged with one count of failure to comply, a third-degree felony.
An arraignment for Byrd has not yet been scheduled, but Goe said Byrd and Jarrett have also been charged in Athens County in connection with the incident.
