Officials arrested a woman suspected of driving while impaired and leading officials on a pursuit before crashing her vehicle.
According to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, on Tuesday around 7:24 a.m. a DPS motorcycle trooper tried to stop a Ford vehicle that was traveling on Interstate 17 near the Deer Valley off-ramp. The vehicle was violating HOV lane regulations.
Vivian Roberts, 43, stopped her vehicle and then drove away from the trooper. The trooper followed the Casa Grande woman.
Roberts drove off of I-17 at the Deer Valley off-ramp where she became stuck in traffic. The trooper got off of his motorcycle and approached the woman on foot when she tried to flee the scene by ramming her car into a vehicle that was in front of her. She then reversed her vehicle, the trooper jumped out of the way, and the woman backed up and fled.
She then drove back onto the Deer Valley off-ramp in the wrong direction. A Maricopa County Sheriff's Office tried to block the ramp with his vehicle but the woman drove around the MCSO car.
A Good Samaritan saw what had just occurred and he placed his car in front of the woman's vehicle in an attempt to stop her from escaping. She struck the civilian's car and lost control of her own car. She traveled down a dirt embankment, came to a stop and was taken into custody by the trooper and off-duty sheriff's deputy.
The woman was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries. She was later booked into jail. She faces charges of aggravated assault, aggravated driving while under the influence, unlawful flight and also has outstanding warrants.
