A 33-year-old woman led Lufkin, Texas Police on a high-speed chase last Saturday after she escaped from her handcuffs and climbed into the driver seat of a police cruiser, video shows.
Lufkin Police released video of the incident on its Facebook page on Tuesday.
Toscha Sponsler, 33, was accused of shoplifting when she was placed under arrest. While seated in the backseat of the cruiser, Sponsler broke free from her handcuffs, climbed through a 12-inch wide partition and got into the driver seat.
Within seconds, Sponsler was behind the wheel of the cruiser, and led police on a 23-minute, 100 MPH chase. Several times, police unsuccessfully tried to stop Sponsler by using spike strips. Police then used a PIT maneuver to make her lose control of the vehicle.
Police then busted the driver-side window to pull Sponsler out of the cruiser.
Lufkin Police claimed that Sponsler tried to reach for a locked shotgun during the pursuit.
Sponsler is charged with escape causing serious bodily injury/threat of a deadly weapon, aggravated assault against a public servant, possession of a controlled substance, evading arrest with a vehicle with a previous conviction and unauthorized use of a vehicle, police said.
She is held on an $18,000 bond.
