By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – A 32-year-old Montevallo woman will spend the next decade in prison after she pleaded guilty to hitting, kicking, spitting on and throwing toilet water on a trio of Alabaster police officers in October 2015.

Stephanie Dianne Sanchez, who lists an address in Montevallo, pleaded guilty on Dec. 3, 2015, to two felony counts of second-degree assault and had her probation revoked for a first-degree possession of marijuana charge she pleaded guilty to in 2013.

According to Shelby County court records, Sanchez had previous convictions for the 2013 marijuana charge and for a 2003 second-degree assault charge, and was on probation for the 2013 marijuana charge when she was arrested last year.

The previous convictions and Sanchez’s probationary status both led to a longer-than-normal prison sentence for her recent guilty pleas.

During a Dec. 3, 2015, hearing Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Dan Reeves sentenced Sanchez to 10 years in prison, and ordered her to complete substance abuse treatment and anger management programs while she is incarcerated.

The 10-year prison sentence is the maximum allowed for a second-degree assault charge.

The assault charges stemmed from an Oct. 24, 2015, incident beginning in the parking lot of Alabaster’s Burger King restaurant, according to Alabaster Deputy Police Chief Jeff Anthony.

The incident began when employees at the restaurant on Alabama 119 witnessed an altercation between Sanchez and a male in the establishment’s parking lot and tripped an alarm to alert police.

When officers arrived on the scene and made contact with Sanchez, she became combative with officers, Anthony said.

“She was not being very nice,” Anthony said.

Sanchez kicked, hit and spit on two Alabaster officers as they arrested her and transported her to the city’s jail. As police booked Sanchez into the municipal jail, she continued to fight with officers, and threw toilet water onto a third officer after she was placed in a cell.

When she was arrested in Alabaster, she gave officers a false name in an attempt to avoid outstanding warrants against her.