BISHOP – A local support agency enlisted Bishop Police Department to assist with a welfare check on a
minor child. A recent visit conducted at a local hotel garnered unanticipated results.
Officers arrived near 9:00 AM on 9/24/2020 at the 600 block of North Main Street to meet with the child,
a man, and a woman. As they made contact with the man at the hotel room door – who claimed he was
alone – they saw a woman inside the room.
When an effort was made to speak with the woman, “she produced an aerosol can of pepper spray,
otherwise known as Oleoresin Capsicum,” said Bishop PD. “The female dispersed the contents of the
aerosol can through the open door, aiming it towards the police officers, striking the male party directly in
the face as well as one Bishop Police Officer.”
An immediate call for backup assistance at 9:21 AM produced multiple agencies and Symons Ambulance. At that point the woman barricaded herself in the room.
“Members of the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office, CHP – Bishop and Mono County Sheriff’s Office responded
to the call for assistance and remained on scene,” said Bishop PD. “A Crisis Negotiation Team,
comprised of local Law Enforcement Officers and assisted by local counselors, was dispatched to the
hotel in an effort to have the female occupant surrender peacefully and safely.”
After several hours of fruitless negotiation efforts, an arrest warrant was initiated. Inyo County Superior
Court issued the warrant that allowed officers to enter the room and remove the woman.
As a result, Twyla Dawn Sepsey (43), of Bishop, was safely taken into custody, booked at the Inyo
County Jail, and charged: Two counts of Penal Code Section 69 –Resistance of an Executive Officer,
and One count of Penal Code Section 22810(g) – Prohibited person in possession of tear gas (OC
spray).
Medical staff at the scene assisted the male with decontamination from the pepper spray. Two officers
self-decontaminated from pepper-spray exposure, and recovered from it at the scene.
After all this, the minor child was not in the hotel room. Instead, it was found staying with family
members.
