A woman managed to shed her handcuffs and steal a police car, in an action-packed video released by police in Lufkin, Tex. on Tuesday.
The Lufkin Police Department (LPD) had arrested Toscha Sponsler, placing her in handcuffs before they put her in the back of a cruiser.
The video showed Sponsler unbuckling her seatbelt before she slipped off one of her handcuffs.
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Sponsler then climbed through the partition in the cruiser and sat herself behind the wheel.
As officers looked through a backpack and purse that their suspect had tried to throw away, Sponsler started to drive away, almost hitting one of the officers in the process, CBS19 reported.
“She then led officers on a 23-minute, 100 mph chase,” said a statement on the department’s Facebook page.
In the video, Sponsler could be seen driving on the side of the road and dodging other police cruisers.
“Throughout the chase, officers could see her reaching for the officer’s shotgun which was mechanically locked to the vehicle,” the LPD said.
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Eventually, Sponsler lost control and drove the police vehicle into a tree at around 6:30 p.m.
The video showed officers surrounding the vehicle with guns drawn before she was taken into custody again.
Lufkin police assistant chief David Thomas told the Lufkin Daily News that the incident will be reviewed internally.
“We are fortunate that no one was hurt during the incident,” Thomas said. “Although we haven’t had anything like this happen in the past, we will conduct an internal investigation to review the incident for training or tactical deficiencies.”
Sponsler faces charges of 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.
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