LAKE LEELANAU — A woman is in the hospital after ramming a deputy’s car and then starting a high-speed chase.
Deputies responded to a call for a domestic incident around 5 p.m. Thursday where the woman, a 41-year-old from Traverse City, had fled the scene, according to Leelanau County Sheriff’s Office officials. While deputies were still speaking with the person who made the call, the woman returned driving a white 2013 Toyota and the deputy was able to approach her, a Facebook post from the Sheriff’s Office states.
The woman appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, according to sheriff’s officials, and became “extremely argumentative.” She told the deputy she was not going to cooperate and he would have to chase her, according to the post. The deputy tried to get the woman to leave her car and things got physical, but the driver was still able to get the car into drive.
The deputy tried to de-escalate, but the woman intentionally hit the patrol car before driving away down South Lake Leelanau Drive at high speed and crashing just north of Bingham Road, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The car rolled and the woman was trapped inside. The deputy tried to help and once Suttons Bay/Bingham Fire and Rescue Departments arrived she was safely extricated from the car and transported to Munson Medical Center for her injuries.
The incident could have been much worse, Leelanau County Sheriff Michael Borkovich said.
“I’m glad to know, when she lost control of her vehicle, that she didn’t strike another vehicle and injure an innocent driving by, or walking down the road, or someone just driving down the road with their family,” he said. “I’m glad it was just a single-vehicle crash and I hope she does well at the hospital, but I’m glad most of all that she didn’t hit someone else.”
A request for charges — including a third offense for drunken driving, resisting arrest, destruction of police property, and fleeing — has been sent to the Leelanau County prosecutor.