January 6, 2019
www.10tv.com
Authorities say a woman who crashed a stolen truck in Morrow County jumped into a police cruiser, leading deputies and state Highway Patrol troopers on a dangerous high-speed chase Saturday.
Troopers were dispatched to County Road 122 south of State Route 95 at 8:35 a.m.
Witnesses initially called for help after seeing a driver, who appeared to be a female, drive through closed bridge signs, travel across the bridge, then off into a grass yard. A Morrow County Sheriff’s Deputy caught up with the female matching the witnesses description down the road. She was only wearing a t-shirt and underwear, had scratches on the front of her legs and was bleeding, while she was screaming she had been raped. She continued walking through a field and the deputy was trying to keep up with her.
As the trooper arrived on scene and exited the patrol car to assist the deputy, the trooper walked around the front of his patrol car, and the female ran past him to the front passenger door. She jumped inside the cruiser through the passenger side, climbed across into the driver’s seat and drove off at a high rate of speed. The deputy was holding onto the vehicle in an attempt to prevent her from driving off, but the deputy eventually fell down to the ground.
The deputy and the trooper got into the deputy’s vehicle and pursued the female. OSHP dispatch was able to track the patrol car by GPS on State Route 314. Upon arrival, the patrol car had been crashed into a tree and was stuck in a ditch. The female took off running from the crash scene and was quickly apprehended by deputies.
First responders transported the woman to Ontario Medical Center for evaluation, where the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office will continue their investigation of her rape allegations.
The deputy was also treated at the scene for minor injuries and is expected to be OK, according to OSHP.
The Ohio Highway Patrol says they will be filing charges of receiving stolen property, failure to control, and obedience to traffic control devices against the female.
The incident remains under investigation.
