Woman arrested and arraigned for hitting police officer with car: Jessica Lawler apprehended weeks after Burlingame incident

Lawler and her boyfriend Fabian Hagnere are no strangers to law enforcement and were reportedly apprehended last year for a similar crime in Santa Clara County during which the woman was caught naked on a hotel roof and the man had to be rescued by firefighters after getting himself stuck in a tree.

Lawler, who already has a strike on her record for residential burglary, will also be arraigned in San Mateo County Superior Court Monday for charges of burglary, identity theft, credit card fraud and possession of stolen property stemming from an April 16 crime, said District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

If convicted, Lawler could face up to 18 years in prison based on her criminal history, Wagstaffe said.

Hagnere, 30, is set to appear in court next Thursday on charges for other crimes he allegedly committed in May. Hagnere was out on bail for less than a week when he was caught using stolen credit cards with Lawler at the Hyatt and could face up to 9 years in prison, Wagstaffe said.

Lawler and Hagnere checked in to two rooms at the Burlingame hotel Jan. 23 after using stolen credit cards to make reservations via Orbitz, according to prosecutors. A few days later, Orbitz caught wind of the fraud and the hotel locked the couple out of the rooms. Police were called when the couple arrived to gather their belongings and found identifying information for more than 10 victims, according to prosecutors.

Hagnere was apprehended but as an officer approached Lawler, who was waiting in a rented Mercedes in the parking lot, she fled and hit the officer in the chest with the side view mirror. The officer, who was on foot, was not injured, according to prosecutors.

A countywide alert was sent out and, after being briefly pursued on Interstate 280, Lawler eventually ditching the rental car in Hillsborough and escaped, according to prosecutors.

Lawler was apprehended Wednesday and pleaded not guilty Thursday, according to prosecutors.

“We’re pleased that someone that assaulted one of our officers with a vehicle is no longer any kind of danger to our officers or to officers in the Bay Area in general,” said Burlingame police Lt. Jay Kiely.

The couple’s Burlingame crimes were remarkably similar to an out-of-county August incident.

Lawler and Hagnere were apprehended at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara on Great America Parkway last August and charged with using stolen credit cards, possessing drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

In that case, the couple fled out of a hotel window when police attempted to serve an arrest warrant for Lawler. The two made it onto the roof and Lawler, who was reportedly naked at the time, surrendered. Hagnere jumped off the roof’s edge and landed onto a tree where he became stuck. Hagnere was arrested after firefighters brought a ladder allowing him to climb down, according to the Mercury News.

Wagstaffe said Hagnere’s Burlingame crimes were increased from misdemeanors to felonies due to his prior San Mateo County charges and prosecutors would look into the alleged Santa Clara County crimes.

Lawler and Hagnere will return to court for a preliminary hearing March 2. Lawler remains in custody on $250,000 bail, according to prosecutors.

samantha@smdailyjournal.com

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