CLAY COUNTY – The former Doctors Inlet Elementary bookkeeper was sentenced to 10 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to embezzling money from the school and shooting at Clay County Sheriff’s Office deputies during a standoff at a Middleburg cemetery on Jan. 23, 2024.

Judge James E. Kallaher also ordered Tammy Jo Saucier, 52, of Middleburg, to pay $73,233 in fees. According to the arrest reports, the Clay County Schools District Police Department and CCSO accused her of taking $76,225 in cash and checks while she was the school’s bookkeeper and secretary. She also used the school’s VISA card to make $8,139 in purchases at Walmart, Home Depot and Publix.

Saucier was being investigated when the Doctors Inlet school resource officer got a text message from Saucier. He called her husband, who called the sheriff’s office saying she was suffering a “mental health crisis” on Jan. 23. The agency used its license plate reader system and discovered her car was traveling from the Oakleaf area toward Middleburg.

According to the arrest report, she drove recklessly, veering into oncoming traffic and ran a red light before leading deputies on a short pursuit. She then pulled into Holly Hill Cemetery, 3601 Old Jennings Road, and had a standoff with sheriff deputies.

Deputies heard one gunshot inside the car. Then Saucier opened the car door and fired one round toward deputies from a Ruger .380 handgun. She dropped the gun but remained in the car after deputies returned fire.

She remained in the car and told a deputy she wanted a pack of cigarettes. Deputies were behind a ballistic shield when they brought her the cigarettes. When she reached for the cigarettes, deputies shot her twice in the back with two non-lethal beanbag rounds before taking her into custody.

She had an injury to her right little finger, and she needed to have her spleen removed at HCA Florida Orange Park Hospital.

No deputies were injured.

Saucier was convicted of grand theft, two counts of fraudulent use of credit cards, five counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement officers, and two counts of petit theft and larceny.