Police

Update: Woman charged with assault held on $25K bail

Jaqulynn Vaughn (Credit: Riverhead Police)
Jaqulynn Vaughn (Credit: Riverhead Police)

Update: A woman with multiple prostitution arrests, Jaqulynn Vaughn was held on $25,000 bail at an arraignment in Riverhead Town Justice Court Saturday morning before Judge Allen Smith following an assault Friday.

The 26-year-old did not make bail and was being held at the Suffolk County Jail. She’s due back in court in Monday. 

Mr. Smith said the victim of the attack yesterday suffered a broken pelvis and fractured ribs. Mr. Smith read a statement Ms. Vaughn made, saying that she thought the car was in neutral when she allegedly ran over the 22-year-old victim.

Ms. Vaughn, who also has a pending charge in Rye, N.Y. for prostituion, did not have a lawyer present or any family or friends in the courtroom. Mr. Smith made a phone call to her attorney in that case, Bruce Kofsky, who recommended to Mr. Vaughn that she hire legal aid first before choosing a private attorney in this case.

Both Ms. Vaughn and the victim, Rita Rios, were arrested April 24 by the FBI along with Rye Brook police as part of a prostitution sting at the Rye Brook hotel, according to the Westmore News. Six people were arrested during that sting. That prostitution charge is a misdemeanor.

In January 2013, she was also arrested in New Jersey for prostitution, according to NorthJersey.com.

Ms. Vaughn, who had a large stack of cash in her belongings, was presented a grand jury notice Saturday morning.

Ms. Vaughn said she was a bartender in Florida, but declined to tell the judge where she worked.

Original Story: Riverhead police have identified the woman accused of running down another woman in a hotel parking lot attack Friday afternoon.

Police said Jaqulynn Vaughn, 26, of Tampa, Fla., struck 22-year-old Rita Rios of Evanston, Ill., with a rented Chevy Impala in the parking lot of Hotel Indigo around 1:55 p.m.

Related: Woman hit by car after parking lot dispute, airlifted

An investigation found the women had gotten into a physical alteration that escalated when Ms. Vaughn got behind the wheel of her vehicle and hit Ms. Rios, police said.

Ms. Rios was airlifted to Stony Brook University Medical Center with serious, but non-life threatening injuries, police said.

Ms. Vaughn was arrested and charged with second-degree assault. She was processed and held for arraignment.