Missouri police officers are certainly used to seeing various degrees of recalcitrant behavior during DWI/DUI stops, from people who believe in good faith that they are being unreasonably detained to obviously intoxicated drivers.

They apparently got a major dose of the latter last Wednesday after stopping a driver in Kansas City in the early morning hours after she was reportedly swerving and driving on a roadway median.

The woman was in no mood to be stopped or subjected to various field sobriety tests, and she escalated matters when police determined that she had been driving under the influence.

One thing that officers at the scene hadn't counted on: She was one of their own.

The woman, a 29-year-old police officer from Kansas City, strongly objected to being placed in handcuffs, and scratched the arresting officer on the neck. In response, he dosed her with pepper spray, but she continued to fight with him.

A second officer who arrived on the scene was head-butted while trying to restrain her. Seven additional deputies were required to place her under control once she arrived at the Clay County Detention Center.

The case certainly points out that every person arrested for drunk driving -- especially one who resists arrest -- needs the assistance of a proven defense attorney.

The arrested officer's attorney will be busy. She was charged with drunk driving, resisting arrest and two counts of assaulting an officer. She faces a potential one-year prison sentence for each of the latter three charges, plus up to $1,000 in fines for each charge.

Source: ABC (KMBC), "KC officer pepper-sprayed in DUI stop" Feb. 8, 2012