Rhonda Rice arrested during a shots fired investigation

At 6:03 PM on June 24, 2022, a citizen called APD Dispatch to report he had been shot at.  The caller was able to provide a description of the female suspect.  Responding officers located the woman running near E 13th Avenue and Gambell Street.  The suspect stopped running when she was surrounded by patrol vehicles.  She was escorted to the ground and placed into handcuffs.  The woman, who was uncooperative and began screaming, refused to identify herself.  She was positively ID’d by her fingerprints as 47-year-old Rhonda R. Rice.  A computer check revealed that Rice had an outstanding warrant, was under pretrial supervision by the Department of Corrections (DOC), and was a convicted felon which meant she was not allowed to be in possession of a handgun.  APD called DOC and was told that Rice should be wearing an ankle monitor, and if she wasn’t, that she should be charged with Escape.  Rice was not wearing the monitor. 

Initial indications are that a father and his adult male son were driving in the area looking for a family member’s bicycle that had been stolen two weeks prior.  As they drove eastbound on Vista Glen Court, they saw Rice (whom they did not know) riding the stolen bike.  The two men pulled up to Rice, got out of their vehicle, and confronted Rice about having the bike that wasn’t hers.  Rice refused to give the bike back until one of the men pulled out his cell phone, stated he was calling the police, and began dialing.  It was then Rice handed over the bike.  The men put the bike into their vehicle, and as they began to drive away, they saw Rice pull out a handgun, point it into the air, and fire one round.  This action put the men in fear of being injured so they sped away and called police from a parking lot at E 15th Avenue and Gambell Street. 

As Rice was running from police, officers saw her discard several items.  Those items were recovered by officers to include a loaded gun. After being arrested, Rice told the officers she was injured.  Once she was medically cleared at a local hospital, Rice was remanded at Hiland Correctional on her outstanding warrant.  She was additionally charged with Theft II, two counts of Assault III, Escape III, Misconduct Involving a Weapon IV – Firing Recklessly, Misconduct Involving a Weapon III – Felon in Possession, and Resisting. 

APD Case 22-20579 

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