31-year old Etta Mae Lopez stood in front Sacramento Sheriff'€™s Deputy Matt Campoy Tuesday, slapped him across the face and got put in Sacramento County Jail—which is exactly what she wanted, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Lopez thought getting locked up would help her quit smoking.
Campoy was leaving the jail when Lopez approached him.
"I stepped the left, she stepped to my left," remembered Campoy. "I stepped to the right, she stepped to my right. I stepped to the left again and she suddenly stepped into me and slapped my face."
Campoy eventually restrained her, brought her back to the jail and put her in handcuffs. After the situation settled down, Lopez admitted her true intentions.
"She knew that the only way to quit smoking was to go to jail because they don't allow tobacco in the jail," said the deputy. "She waited all day for a deputy to come out because she knew if she assaulted a deputy she would be go to jail and be inside long enough to quit her smoking habit.
Lopez said she waited outside the building for so long that she had to take a snack break. Since some officers leave the jail in street clothes she waited to make sure she hit an actual officer. Campoy doesn’t change his clothes until he reaches about a block away from the jail.
Campoy has given himself a nickname to match his role of being a human nicotine patch.
"I've been telling everybody that I have a new Irish name: Nick O'Derm," said Campoy.
However, he is curious as to what Lopez would have tried next if her ploy had failed and she hadn’t been arrested.
“What would be her next move? Would it be a little more injury? What level of assault would she take it to?" Campoy said. "We are hopeful she will be in jail for a long enough time to kick the habit or not want to assault anybody."
Lopez’s plan is working since she has been sitting in jail, with no cigarettes, since Tuesday.
