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An Oregon sheriff said the state's recently implemented bail reform policies are making her community less safe and contradict what rural residents want.
A 75-year-old woman in Oregon who was clocked driving over 100 mph and leading police on a chase was arrested after authorities were forced to use spike strips to stop her.
Josephine County Sheriff’s Office deputies spotted the woman driving 112 mph on Friday shortly before midnight on I-5 South near the rural town of Merlin. She was identified as 75-year-old Elizabeth Katherine Essex, according to WSMV.
Deputies attempted to pull the car over, but Essex continued driving, which led to a pursuit. The woman soon crossed county lines and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department continued the pursuit.
Deputies used spike strips at least seven times on the vehicle to subdue the elderly woman, but she continued driving even after she no longer had tires on the car, according to authorities.
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Police spike strips deployed on a road. (Andrew Matthews/PA Images via Getty Images)
Essex was finally stopped when deputies used a pursuit intervention technique, also known as a PIT maneuver. The procedure requires an officer to pull up behind a target vehicle, and as the pursuit vehicle matches "the speed of the target vehicle, then hits the rear quarter panel of the target, just behind the rear wheel, with the patrol vehicle’s right or left front bumper," and then turning "the patrol vehicle steering wheel one-quarter turn toward the target, then immediately turns the wheel back to the direction of travel," according to Police 1.
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A Jackson County, Oregon, Sheriff's Department vehicle (Jackson County Sheriff's Offce)
The woman was taken into custody without injury on charges of eluding an officer and reckless driving.
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The Jackson County Sheriff’s office noted that Oregon State Police as well as officers from the Rogue River, Central Point, Medford, Phoenix, Talent and Ashland police forces assisted with the effort.
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"Emergency Communications of Southern Oregon did a great job coordinating the multiple agencies leading to a successful and safe resolution of the pursuit," the office’s Facebook post added.
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