WREG.com

Arkansas woman leads police on high speed chase after stealing a squad car

GREENWOOD, Ark. — An Arkansas woman lead police on a high-speed chase after stealing one of their squad cars while she was handcuffed earlier this week.

Twenty-three-year-old Jessica Sterling is behind bars after police say she stole a Greenwood Police Department squad car and crashed into a gas well.

CBS affiliate KSFM says officers were called to a domestic dispute where Sterling left in her car taking police on a high-speed chase.

Officers stopped Sterling after she crashed into a fence and had to secure her wrists behind her back because she was aggressive.

Police say while Sterling was in the back of the patrol car, she tried to break out of a rear window, and officers had to secure her wrists behind her back as well as use leg irons and a hobble.

Police also says she removed the hobble, transitioned the cuffs from the back to the front of her body and was able to slide open the partition window and climb to the front of the car while investigators inspected Sterling’s car.

Sterling then sped off in the officer’s squad car and eventually crashed in a gas well, overturning the car and setting off a gas leak.

When officers arrived on scene, police say Sterling was attempting to get an assault rifle out of a locked gun box.

Jessica Sterling faces fifteen charges including DWI, criminal mischief and theft of property.