A Utah woman didn’t let handcuffs deter her from driving away from the scene of her own arrest in the police cruiser that picked her up, though her alleged joyride still ended with her behind bars.
Tremonton police arrested the 34-year-old for the second time early Tuesday after she dumped the cop car she’d been arrested in (and had reportedly just stolen) near 300 North Main in Garland and fled on foot, Police Chief David Nance said in a news release.
Another handcuffed passenger, a 28-year-old woman, escaped. As of Tuesday night, police had not found her.
The alleged impromptu heist began just after 2 a.m., when police tried to pull over a car for speeding. The car — reportedly driven by the 28-year-old and carrying three other people, including the 34-year-old — led police on a short chase.
During the pursuit, the driver left the car and fled on foot. She was arrested while the car continued moving, Nance said.
Officers found the car, sans all passengers but the 34-year-old, in front of Bear River High School, 1450 S. Main St.
Police handcuffed the women with their hands behind their backs and placed them in a cruiser, with the 24-year-old in the back and the 34-year-old in the front seat, Nance said, because the patrol car’s prisoner partition only accommodates one backseat passenger.
With the women in custody, the arresting Tremonton officer searched their car. Soon, he noticed his cruiser was moving.
The front-seat passenger had apparently wriggled herself into the driver’s seat and pulled the transmission out of park, Nance said.
Though the officer tried to stop her, she drove away. She made it about a mile away before the duo dumped the cruiser and made a break for it on foot, Nance said.
Police later found and arrested the 34-year-old for the second time. She was booked into the Box Elder County jail. Officers are still searching for the 28-year-old and the two others who were in the car during the initial traffic stop.
A call to Box Elder County jail for information about the complaints on which the 34-year-old had been arrested wasn’t immediately returned.
Anyone with information on the people involved can call police at 435-734-3800.
