Late night high speed police chase ends with one woman in custody

WOOD RIVER - One woman is in custody following an overnight police chase starting in Wood River after midnight early Tuesday morning. 

Wood River Deputy Police Chief Dan Bunt said one female is facing pending charges after failing to stop for Wood River Police officers at 12:23 a.m. early Tuesday morning. Bunt said the woman allegedly ran a stop sign near the intersection of Wood River Avenue and Penning, and continued driving erratically following failure to stop. She then allegedly continued evading police through Wood River, eventually making her way to the Berm Highway into Alton. 

From Alton, the woman allegedly went through East Alton and back into Wood River. From Wood River, Bunt said she traveled to Route 143 and onto Highway 159. Bunt said speeds may have exceeded 100 mph during the chase. He said the woman was driving a 2003 Buick passenger car. 

During the chase, Bunt said the driver evaded several attempted uses of "stop sticks," which are utilized by law enforcement to disable tires during pursuits. Eventually, however, Bunt said the vehicle became disabled on 159 near Buchta Road. Bunt said the driver continued to attempt to start the vehicle and had to be pulled from the car by police. He said the chase finally ended at 12:44 a.m. 

"Everyone is safe, no one is injured," Bunt said. "It went longer than normal pursuits for sure. She was refusing to stop. Luckily, traffic was light or else we would have called it. She continued to attempt to go after the car broke down and had to be removed from the vehicle." 

Bunt said the suspect's name would be released this afternoon, and he expects her to be charged with at least one felony, citing the sheer amount of violations she allegedly committed, including running traffic lights and stop signs as she was allegedly evading police. 

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