THIS. >> GET OUT. GET OUT. >> I wonder what she's got. >> In the leg. Me in the leg. >> This woman stabs a police officer in the leg during an arrest. Only afterward does the truth come out. She is the wife of a cop. But as officers try to understand what could have forced her to take such drastic action, a series of troubling revelations and incidents complicates the case, leading to consequences that cannot be undone. >> You know my husband. >> Please take a seat in my car. >> I'm married to a police. >> Please take a seat in my car before I have to put you in my car. >> Jeremy, respect and put me in the front. >> Please take a seat in my car before I put you in there. >> Respect and put me in the car. >> I'm going to tell you one more time. Take me. Tell me how to take a seat in my car or I'm going to put you in there. It all begins on the night of December 11th, 2024 when police in Bullhead City, Arizona, respond to a domestic disturbance call. The call is placed by a worried father who reports that his daughter's behavior is growing increasingly aggressive. Officers rush to the scene where they are immediately met by the distressed father, clearly on edge and fearing for his safety. >> My my daughter, she's been in a mental hospital a lot of times. I don't know how many times. Okay. >> And she's like she's out of hand right now. She's she hasn't been taking any medicine. >> Okay. >> And um she's getting very aggressive, you know, with me. She accused me, you know, I her mom left me 28 years ago and I still get blamed for that. >> Which house is it? This house right here. >> Where she Where she at? >> Oh, she she must have >> Keep an eye on the door. She's getting uh aggressive. No, she's just like she doesn't know what she's doing. >> Has she hit you or anything like that? So, it's not physical. She's just yelling at you. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> But I'm afraid that, you know, you know, she's she's mentally ill, you know. >> Okay. Uh >> she's not a drug. >> Does she live here? >> Yeah, but she's been living with me for 3 years. >> Okay. >> Her husband, she was married to a sheriff in Riverside. In Riverside. >> Okay. and he took the kids away from her, which he doesn't let her see the kids, and that doesn't help. >> Okay. Well, that's that's not really uh Okay. It's not helping the situation. I can see that. >> Yeah, it's not. >> So, what do you want done? >> Right away, the father tells officers that she has a history of mental illness and has not been taking her medication, a detail that makes the situation even more dire. From that moment, cops know they have to move more carefully than ever. Before going any further, they inquire the father for every detail they can get. >> Well, she needs to go to a place where they they'll give her mental treatment. >> Okay. Um, is she threatened suicide? >> No, she has >> Does she threaten to hurt you? >> No, it's cuz one of my nieces her she doesn't get along with a niece. >> Okay. because uh she's her that niece is in on on that her exhusband's uh side and she calls over here and gets her pissed off. >> Okay. >> And I don't have her phone number. One day she called me like 19 times. >> Who did? >> That hurt my niece. >> Your niece. Okay. >> And she aggravates her, you know. >> Okay. But she's not here right now. Does she have someplace else to go? my daughter. >> Yes. >> No, she has >> she doesn't have a friend's house that she could go hang out with. >> No, no, she can't she can't go nowhere. She won't even come out of the house out of the gate. >> Okay. Well, so she doesn't meet any of the qualifications for us to take her for mental evaluation. >> Oh, she needs to >> Well, she may need to, but she doesn't meet the qualifications for me to take her into custody for that. So, that leaves us with arresting her or her leaving. From the father's statement, it becomes clear that the daughter identified as Vanessa Marie Jacuzz could turn hostile. At first, it appears to be another episode tied to her mental illness. But with no physically violent actions, it leaves police with few options and little room to act. That assumption holds until the father mentions something else. An unexpected piece of information that quietly changes the course of the case. >> She's mentally ill. She's like pushing me and pushing me. And >> so she pushed you. >> Yes. >> You didn't tell me that. I asked you if she pushed you >> or hit you. >> Well, she didn't hit me, but she was pushing me. >> Okay. >> And then she said she took off her shoe and she hit me a few times with it. >> So she did hit you. >> Yeah. >> A few times. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Well, see that's different. That's not what That's not what you told me. Well, but you know, like I'm her father, you know, and she's just angry and she's angry at her niece and she takes it out on me and >> I mean, >> so at some point or another after tonight, you're going to have to decide what you're going to do with this situation. If you keep letting her do this, then it's going to continue happening. >> She she's been in a mental institution and she needs she needs she needs medicine. >> Well, if she doesn't take her medicine, then it doesn't do any good to give it to her. Yeah, she was taking it, but she ran out and they stopped sending it to them. >> After getting the full picture, cops decide to try talking to Vanessa, hoping she'll respond or accept the help she needs voluntarily. But little do they know that very soon this situation will begin to change for the worse and spiral into chaos. >> Sergeant Brooks with the police department, can you come and talk to me? >> Oh, yeah. Go for it. Uh, give me a call. Let me know what you guys need. Can you come to the door and talk to me? >> Oh, no. You can you can call me if you need something. >> I don't want to talk to you through a door. >> Oh, I don't know. How do you guys normally talk to people? Is it like what? How do you guys normally talk? >> Well, not through a door. Usually face to face. >> Oh, okay. How How is face to face? >> What do you mean? >> FaceTime. >> Can you open the door for me? Oh. Um, you let me know when you know how to open doors. You guys are real smart out here. >> You locked the door. >> Oh, I don't think I did. >> You did. I watched you. >> Oh, my dad's elderly. Maybe he had a problem. >> No, you locked your dad out of your house. Are you kidding me? You locked your dad out of his house? From the very beginning of the conversation, cops realize that taking Vanessa into custody is going to be complicated. She refuses to cooperate and is very aggressive. And it quickly becomes clear that this is only the beginning. Her behavior begins to slip even further into delusion. >> Hey, how's it going? >> I'm not here to arrest you. If I call Teros out here, will you talk to them? >> What do you need? Um, what was that? You need uh toilet clean from uh Officer Edwin Romero? >> No, I don't know who that is. But >> I don't know who you are either. I just I need Why don't you call him? >> I'll tell you what. >> Oh, no. You don't need to call ME ANYTHING. CALL OFFICER Edward Romero and you figure it out. >> You know we're not in California, right? >> No. WHERE ARE YOU GUYS AT? >> We're in Bullhead City. >> Oh, I know. You come down here to THE RIVER ALL THE GODDAMN TIME AND HE'S NOT FROM California from the river. I don't have any idea who you're talking about. >> Well, you guys aren't either. >> Okay. So, >> why'd you lock your dad out of the house? >> I don't know. Did he Is he elderly? Did he lock himself out? >> No, you did. >> Oh, you guys can say whatever YOU WANT. HOW'S YOUR WIFE, UH, OFFICER UH, Miguel Chico? >> I don't know how I don't have any idea who you're talking about. >> Well, I don't know who the city of Riverside County officers are either. I don't know WHO THEY ARE. THEY DON'T KNOW WHO I AM. I DON'T KNOW who you are. >> Okay. I just told you who from Riverside County. >> Vanessa, I just told you who I was. I'm >> because I'm sure your wife is AT HOME RIGHT NOW WITH HER KIDS THE WAY MY HUSBAND WAS AT HOME WITH my kids. AND IF YOU'RE STUCK OUTSIDE, THEN GOOD LUCK. >> OKAY. SO, >> you guys can figure it out now. >> Would you be willing to talk to Teros if I called him down here? >> Oh, you can call You can call Sheriff Edward. >> No, no, no. I said Teros. >> You can call LPD. I know a bunch of people. You guys can figure it out NOW. KIDS ARE AT THE RIVER. THEY'RE ALL AT THE RIVER TONIGHT. Maybe you guys can figure out where your kids are at. >> I know where my kids are at. >> I know where my kids are at, too, BECAUSE I WERE THE OFFICER'S WIFE AND A POLICE OFFICER'S UH CHILDREN'S MOTHER. >> OKAY. >> Figure it out. >> From Vanessa's unhinged statements, the cops are able to understand bits and pieces that line up with the information her father has already given them about her, but none of it helps officers make sense of the moment they're in. Vanessa doesn't fully grasp where she is or what's happening. And it's clear this is going to be a long night for the police. >> Now, you can call Riverside County Sheriff. Officer Edward >> I don't give two about the Riverside County Sheriff's Office. >> That's so funny. You can give officer Edward Romero knows. >> I don't care about Officer Edward Romero. I'm here to talk to you. >> You're not even I don't care. I don't care. I'm Officer EDWARD ROMERO'S POLICE OFFICER. GODDAMN WIFE. YOU LEAVE ME THE alone tonight. >> YOU GUYS DO THIS TO OFFICER WIVES ALL THE TIME. >> I do what? >> ALL THE TIME. >> We do what? >> You go AHEAD AND TELL EVERYBODY WHAT YOU GUYS DO TO EACH OTHER. >> I don't have any idea what you're talking about. Your dad says you're in distress. >> Oh, I don't have a dad. I have Officer Edward Romero. >> I'm standing right here with your dad. >> Oh, that's your daddy now. >> No, no, it's your it's your father. OFFICER EDWARD ROMERO took care of everything in Riverside. >> What feels like senseless, meaningless rambling doesn't stay that way for long. The situation takes another turn when Vanessa begins shifting blame, pointing fingers without reason. As the minutes drag on, frustration starts building among the officers. He married another another >> We need to take Officer Edward Romero's father to prison tonight so he can figure out what he needs to do. >> I'm out here talking to your father. >> No, THAT'S OFFICER EDWARD ROMERO'S FATHER. He sold me TO HIM IN 2008. SO YOU GUYS KNOW HOW THAT GOES. >> I don't know anything about that. >> I don't know. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO BECOME A POLICE OFFICER IN LIFE. >> OH. >> OH, I don't know. I don't know. We were only sheriff's down there IN THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, RIVERSIDE COUNTY, INDOCCATION, Palm Desert, Riverside, California. Maybe you can call a couple people to talk to Riverside. >> I'M NOT MOTHER GODDAMN BOAT DOWN HERE AND TALK TO HIS MOTHER GODDAMN WIFE. >> Aren't you divorced? >> Are we divorced? What year did he divorce me? >> Uh, I don't know. >> Run the call now. >> It's not in the call notes. Nothing is changing and every attempt to make her open the door fails. With options running out, officers decide to play a trick on Vanessa. They bring in her father, hoping a familiar voice and a moment of empathy might finally break through where authority couldn't. >> I'm I'm cold. Mh. I need my jacket. Can you open the door? Can you open the door so I can put on my jacket? I'm freezing. >> [snorts] >> Open the door. >> We got a jacket tonight. I'm sure they'll be able to help you. >> Put that somewhere else. >> Open open the door, man. I I got to go in. I need my I got to use the bathroom. Christina says she'll be there for you when you need a jacket. >> But nothing works. Vanessa remains unhinged, locked in the delusion that her husband is coming to rescue her. With no options left, officers instruct the father to force the door open using a screwdriver. What they don't know is that the moment that door gives way, they are about to walk into a scene far more violent than anything they are prepared for. Move. Move this. >> GET OUT. GET OUT. >> I don't know what she's got on her hand. She just stabbed me in THE LEG. JUST shot me in the leg. Don't put her out. [panting] >> I've got her hand. >> You got the hand? >> Yeah, I got this hand. >> Okay. My mouth. My mouth. I broke my mouth. Broke my mouth. Call my husband. Dad, >> I got her arms. >> I have other set of cops right here in my arm. >> Got him right here. >> Dad, call my husband. >> Gas over there. >> Dad, call my husband. Please. >> Daddy, >> you are under arrest for aggravated assault on a police officer. >> Give me your othering hand. >> Dad, HELP. PLEASE. THESE [screaming] ARE NOT GOING TO WORK RIGHT HERE. >> DAD. >> OKAY. OKAY. I CAN GET UP. I CAN GET UP. I can get up. >> You're not getting up. >> I got to check this leg out cuz my my leg's bleeding. >> Dad, help me, please. >> Yeah, you don't. >> Go. Go. I got her. >> Okay. Okay. >> Got her. >> Sam 188 roll paramedics. Uh 342's been stabbed. >> I got stabbed. My leg's bleeding. >> Get a tourniquet on it. Where is it? >> Right here in my thigh. >> Is it high enough? >> Yeah. >> Clear your pocket. >> And just like that, in a single moment, the situation explodes and the psychopath cop's wife stabs an officer during her arrest. In an instant, what began as a welfare call turns into an assault on the police. Tensions spike. Officers grow visibly agitated and it becomes clear the night is now taking a much darker turn. >> Can I get out? >> No, you can stay right where you'reing at. >> Try grabbing my balls again. I will hurt you. >> Okay, I believe you. >> Do you understand me? >> I believe you. >> Okay, thank you. >> Stupid. >> Okay, thank you, Dad. Thank you. Tell them. Tell them thank you. They're going to stop now. Dad, they said they'll stop now. >> Hey, uh, sir, anyone give me a cigarette? >> I'm not getting a cigarette. >> All right, >> Dad. Will you help now? >> She will listen to me. And >> yeah, she's under arrest now. [snorts] You listen. >> All right, I'm good. >> You sure that's tight? You're hurting me. You're hurting me. You're hurting me. You're hurting me. Please stop. You're hurting me. You're hurting me. You're hurting me. You're hurting me. Stop it. >> You're hurting me, >> Dad. You're hurting me, Dad. >> Okay. I'm all better. I'm all better, Dad. I'm all better now. >> You understand? >> I understand now. >> Okay. Okay. Okay. Dad, I understand now. It's fine. You want to get [snorts] >> No, I don't. Oh my god. Dad, help. >> Sam 188. Uh, turn time now. You're hurting me. You're hurting me. Dad, you're hurting me. >> Dad, it hurts. >> But none of the begging or pleading works. Something serious has to be done, and the consequences are now unavoidable. With no other choice left, the cops move in, place Vanessa under arrest, and take her away. >> No. Step back. Just grab it. Grab her. Grab her. Grab her some clothes. >> I got two. >> The uh the knife's right behind me, Sean. >> Okay. >> I got the knife. >> Okay. >> I got her. >> You got her? >> Yep. >> Okay. You You want to stay with the knife? I'll walk. >> I'll stay with the knife. >> Just stay over there, sir. >> Thank you. As Vanessa is taken away, one of the officers stays behind to wrap things up with her father. And even after everything, her father makes a heartbreaking plea to him. >> I'll be back in a couple of minutes to give you a uh a seizure list for this knife. >> Okay. >> Okay. Um your daughter's going to jail. >> She needs help. >> Well, she she's going to go to jail. She's not going to go to a mental health. >> She's not. She just stabbed a police officer. >> She's not going to a mental health facility. She's going to jail. >> But she needs to >> Well, she can talk to them about getting help from jail then. >> Well, you talk to them for me because I >> You can talk to him if you want. >> She's mentally ill. She's She She's not allowed. >> Well, she shouldn't have tried to stab a police officer that was here trying to help her. Meanwhile, Vanessa is transported to a local hospital for a medical evaluation, but the tension doesn't ease. Behind the hospital doors, a new and unsettling episode begins to unfold, threatening to escalate the chaos. >> Are you a police officer? >> Mhm. >> I am. >> Have you ever beat your wife? >> Nope. >> If your wife was suffering, what would you do for her? take her to the hospital. >> Unfortunately, tonight that's not an option. You [snorts] made some choices tonight that >> No, I don't think you goddamn understand. I made goddamn choices. Do youing hear me? [music] My god. >> You think I make goddamn choices? You know what I am? I'm Mexican. No. Listen for a goddamn moment. I'm Mexican. Sit down. >> I'm Mexican and I used to clean toilets for my goddamn husband. I'm Mexican. I used to get on my knees and serve him. Do you [ __ ] goddamn understand? And I still stand with him every [ __ ] day and he still beats me. And I paid all my [ __ ] goddamn money to him. I paid everything to him. I paid everything. [laughter] I paid everything to him. I paid everything to him toing die, my friend. Why did he have to beat me? Why does he hit me? Why does he fight with me? Why? >> I don't have an answer. >> Why? [laughter] I work hard and he hits me. Do you hear you? [laughter] >> Cops are still struggling to determine if anything Vanessa says holds a shred of truth. But even on the way to the station from the hospital, her rambling doesn't stop. She keeps offering fragments of a story that only raises more questions. Why don't you call me Officer Edin Romero's wife on secretary of my husband today and then you can understand what it's like to be a white boy with a Mexican girl while she has to get by you [ __ ] goddamn white people every day. >> Every mothering day. >> Why don't you stand for somebody else? Why don't you take a seat in my car? My best friend is white. Please take a seat in my car. I want to be MARRIED TO A GODDAMN BEST PEOPLE. Please take a seat in my car next to the >> You're going to treat me like this. >> Please take a seat in my car. >> You know my husband. >> Please take a seat in my car. >> I'm married to a police officer. >> Please take a seat in my car before I have to put you in my car. >> Timmy with respect and put me in the front. >> Please take a seat in my car before I put you in respect and put me in the car. >> I'm going to tell you one more time. Tell me, tell me how you treat. >> Take a seat in my car or I'm going to put you in there. >> Make sure you be NICE TO ME BECAUSE I'M SOMEBODY'S RIVERSIDE CITY POLICE OFFICER'S WIFE. AND YOU KNOW HOW THEY TREAT PEOPLE? >> MY BEST FRIEND'S A WHITE BOY. GET IN THE CAR. >> MY BEST FRIEND'S WHITE. GET IN THE CAR. >> MY BEST FRIEND'S WHITE. YOU KNOW MY YOU KNOW MY GRANDPA CLIPPER, the service me. A white man. A WHITE MAN. A WHITE MAN, HOMIE. A WHITE MAN. NOT A MEXICAN MAN. A WHITE MAN. YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEXICAN BATH SOLD ME FOR? TO CLEAN TOILETS FOR WHITE COMPANIES. LOOK UP HEIDI'S AIR CONDITIONING. LOOK AT MY KIND. I KNOW WHO WHITE PEOPLE ARE SERVING. [sighs] Vanessa Jackz pleaded guilty except insane to an aggravated assault charge and was sentenced [music] to 5 years of confinement in a secured mental health facility. Instead of prison, the judge ordered her commitment to the Arizona State Hospital in Phoenix, where she will undergo long-term mental health treatment after experts concluded she was experiencing an acute psychotic episode and was not in control of her actions at the time of the assault.