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AUSTINBURG TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WJW) — A 43-year-old Ashtabula woman died Thursday in a rollover crash on Interstate 90, after leading Ashtabula County sheriff’s deputies on a high-speed chase that reached speeds of over 100 mph.
The woman had outstanding warrants and fled a traffic stop, according to a Friday news release from the Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy who recognized her from past incidents spotted her while on patrol at the Pilot Travel Center along state Route 45 and approached her.
She gave the deputy a fake name, but the deputy later confirmed her real identity through an Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles photo. He then stopped the vehicle in which she was a passenger along the entrance ramp to I-90 East.
The woman then fled on foot. The deputy then chased and caught up to her, and the woman “began resisting and assaulting him,” according to the release.
She then ran back and took control of the car, driving off east “at a high rate of speed,” according to the release. The chase reached speeds in excess of 100 mph, and ended at the state Route 11 exit, where the woman rolled the vehicle and was ejected.
Deputies performed life-saving measures until EMS arrived, but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
“The deputy followed the department’s policies and procedures and did what he was supposed to,” Sheriff William Niemi is quoted in the release. “This was a tragic incident that could have been avoided.”
The crash is being investigated by the Ohio State Highway Patrol.