Tiffany Garcia

A Lehigh Acres woman is facing 13 years in prison after she was found guilty of stabbing a Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputy.

The sentencing was held on Feb. 4.

Authorities with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said the woman was Tiffany Garcia, 28, and she was found guilty of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.

According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, last March two deputies were sent to a disturbance call at 706 Arianne Court. When they arrived, officials said they found Garcia in the bathroom, wearing only her under clothes and behaving erratically.

A female deputy asked Garcia to get dressed and go into the living room to talk.

According to a report from the Sheriff’s Office, Garcia was accused of reaching into the drawer in the bathroom for her clothes and also grabbing a knife from a drawer and begin slashing the deputy’s face and chest area before stabbing her in the leg.

However, Garcia was overcome and arrested, according to the report.

The 13-year prison sentence will be followed by 12 years of probation, and Garcia must also undergo substance abuse and mental health evaluations.

In the Sheriff’s Office statement, the road to recovery was a painful one and included more than three months of intense rehabilitation for the deputy.

She has since returned to full-time duty and officials say she has not let the incident keep her down.