- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Authorities arrest Upper Lake woman for assaulting high school students
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Authorities have taken an Upper Lake woman into custody for assaulting two high school students on their way to class Wednesday morning.
Melissa Marie Lambert, 32, was arrested shortly after the assaults, which occurred off-campus in downtown Upper Lake, according to Lt. Corey Paulich of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Paulich said that at 8:50 a.m. Wednesday Lambert approached a 16-year-old male and a 17-year-old female as they were walking on Main Street in Upper Lake and began yelling at them for an unknown reason.
“Lambert pushed the male, threw coffee at him and smeared a burrito in his face,” Paulich said.
The female student grabbed Lambert and they ended up on the ground. Paulich said Lambert gouged the girl’s eyes, causing injury, and kicked her.
Paulich said the two teenage victims directed deputies to Lambert’s residence on Middle Creek Road.
Lambert denied being responsible for the assault, but matched the description provided by the victims and was later positively identified by the victims, Paulich said.
Lambert’s booking record, which lists her profession as cashier, shows that she was arrested at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday, less than half an hour after the incident occurred.
Paulich said she was booked at the Lake County Jail on a felony charge of willful cruelty to a child.
She remained in custody on Thursday with bail set at $75,000, jail records showed.
Upper Lake Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Giovanni Annous said in a statement on the district’s Facebook page on Wednesday evening that the two students had been with two others on their way to class when the assaults occurred.
He said in the written statement that the two students who were assaulted suffered minor injuries but came to school later that same morning.
“The kids are fine,” Annous told Lake County News on Thursday, noting he could not offer further details due to privacy protections.
Lambert is scheduled to appear in Lake County Superior Court for arraignment on Friday, according to jail records.
Paulich said the sheriff’s office has had previous contact with her for a couple of warrant arrests.
Local arrest records show she was arrested in December 2018 on a warrant and in March 2017 for disorderly conduct involving alcohol.
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