A 26-year-old Fenton woman was arrested after she reportedly led police on a chase that started at the Arnold Walmart and ended when she crashed an SUV while trying to get onto I-255 from I-55 in St. Louis County. Two men in the fleeing SUV escaped, Arnold Police reported.
The chase began at about 7:10 p.m. March 17 when an officer saw a 2017 Honda Pilot on Michigan Avenue and noticed the occupant turned away from him when he passed the SUV. The officer checked the license plate on the Pilot and learned the SUV allegedly had been involved in retail thefts, the report said.
The officer turned around to follow the SUV, which pulled into the Walmart parking lot, 2201 Michigan Ave. When the woman noticed the cruiser was following her, she allegedly drove through the Walmart parking lot at 65 mph, according to the report.
The officer turned on the cruiser’s lights and sirens to stop the SUV, but the driver reportedly pulled onto Michigan Avenue and then got into the turn lane and nearly struck a responding police officer’s cruiser head-on before turning onto Church Road. The SUV nearly struck another car when the driver went through a stop sign at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Church Road, Arnold Police reported.
The driver then allegedly reached speeds of about 85 mph on Church Road, where the posted speed limit is 40 mph. The SUV allegedly nearly hit two more vehicles on Church Road before turning onto Hwy. 141, according to the report.
The woman allegedly tried to hit a pursuing Arnold Police vehicle multiple times on the highway before getting onto northbound I-55. Arnold Police continued to pursue the fleeing vehicle north on the interstate until the driver lost control of the Pilot while trying to get onto eastbound I-255, the report said.
The SUV went off the interstate, flipped five times, went through a rope line and chain-link fence before falling about 25 feet off a retaining wall, the report said.
St. Louis County Police and Mehlville Fire Protection District personnel responded to the scene, and the woman was apprehended while she was getting out of the SUV. However, two men who also were in the Pilot ran and got away, according to the report.
The woman already was wanted on a warrant from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office for first-degree tampering and possession of a controlled substance. Officers also allegedly found a capsule in her pants’ pocket, and the capsule contained a powdery substance believed to be either heroin or fentanyl, the report said.
She was arrested and taken to the Police Station, where she was booked and released to the Sheriff’s Office. Arnold Police will seek charges against her for first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer, felony resisting arrest, felony leaving the scene of an accident, careless and imprudent driving and possession of a controlled substance, Cpl. Brett Ackermann said.
As of March 24, the two men seen fleeing from the crashed SUV had not been located or identified, Ackermann said.