Officer chases down woman in stolen car

Published 7:37 am Friday, February 29, 2008

EDMONDS – A 21-year-old transient woman was caught after eluding an Edmonds police officer while driving a stolen car at high speeds and crashing in Shoreline on Feb. 17. No one was injured in the incident.

At 7:40 a.m. that day, Edmonds police traffic Officer Ken Crystal was on his way to work when he heard a report of a vehicle stolen from south Everett, according to Edmonds police. At about 11:15 a.m. he was working traffic on a motorcycle in the 23800 block of 100th Ave. W. when a vehicle fitting the description of the stolen one sped by him. The woman driving the car waved at him as she passed.

He followed the yellow Nissan Xterra to run the license plate, and as he pulled in behind the car, it accelerated and began to make evasive maneuvers to ditch the officer, according to police. The woman ran red lights and drove on the wrong side of the road in addition to driving at excessive speeds, police said.

At one point the vehicle stopped and as the officer pulled in behind her, the woman tried to back into Officer Crystal. He evaded the attempt, she sped off and he continued the chase.

The woman eventually ran into several parked cars near a school in Shoreline, causing severe damage to the stolen car. She then got out and ran onto the school grounds. Officer Crystal ran after her and with the help of a Shoreline police sergeant took her into custody.

The woman’s name was not disclosed. She was booked into the Snohomish County Jail on charges of possession of stolen property, felony eluding, second-degree assault and possession of stolen credit cards.