Cuffed woman steals cruiser, leads 100 mph chase

[September 27, 2010]  PORT ARTHUR, Texas (AP) -- A handcuffed woman was accused of swiping a Port Arthur police car and leading officers on a chase at speeds topping 100 mph.

Police Chief Mark Blanton told KFDM-TV that nobody was injured in Friday's chase involving a woman arrested on a trespassing charge at the Port Arthur campus of Lamar State College.

Blanton said a witness told police that the woman managed to slide open the prisoner screen that separates the front and rear areas of the patrol car, crawling from the rear seat into the driver's seat. The officer was outside the running vehicle, completing his investigation.

The chase lasted about 10 miles on Highway 69 until the patrol car's tires were shredded by spike strips thrown on the road by other officers.

Port Arthur is 80 miles east of Houston.

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Information from: KFDM-TV, http://www.kfdm.com/

[Associated Press]

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