MARATHON, Fla. – Monroe County sheriff's deputies arrested an intoxicated Marathon woman after she led them on a chase up U.S. Highway 1.
The deputies were called to a McDonald's at 6:30 a.m. Sunday and witnessed Janice Hastings, 60, blocking traffic in the restaurant's drive-thru lane.
Recommended Videos
After a customer and manager asked her to move, Hastings drove her car across the lot and parked across several spots.
When one deputy approached Hastings' car, the manager told him he believed the woman was intoxicated.
As the deputy attempted to speak with Hastings, she hit the gas, jumped a curb and began driving north on U.S. 1.
Driving at speeds up to 45 mph, Hastings refused to stop with three deputies in pursuit. Another deputy was able to puncture all four of her tires after deploying spikes at an intersection.
However, Hastings kept driving with four flat tires and began fishtailing and endangering other drivers.
The car eventually came to a stop at mile marker 57.2, but Hastings refused to open her car door or window, shouting at officers that she was not drunk.
A passerby told deputies she had seen Hastings leaving J.J.'s Doghouse bar and driving erratically, running through a traffic light and hitting the median several times. The woman made the first call to 911 about Hastings' driving.
Deputies said Hastings refused to take a sobriety test on the roadside or at the detention center after she was placed under arrest.
While in the detention center, Hastings also bit a deputy when he attempted to remove gum that she refused to spit out of her mouth.
Hastings was arrested on charges of fleeing and eluding police, reckless driving, DUI, battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence.