KEY WEST, Fla. – A woman was arrested Saturday after police said she made a fake emergency call and fled from officers who responded to the scene, setting off an 80-mile high-speed chase across the Florida Keys.
Alyson Crean, a spokeswoman for the Key West Police Department, said 51-year-old Jolynn Schneider called 911 about 10:30 p.m. to report a fire at a storage facility in the 2600 block of North Roosevelt Boulevard. But when officers and firefighters arrived they found no fire and Schneider trapped behind the facility's security gate, Crean said.
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Officers entered the facility to question to Schneider, and the gate closed behind them, Crean said. Schneider admitted to the officers that she made a false 911 call in hopes that whoever responded would unlock the gate for her, Crean said.
When officers asked Schneider for identification, Crean said, Schneider refused, ran to her car and sped off, crashing through the gate.
Schneider narrowly missed hitting several firefighters with her car as she fled, Crean said.
After Key West police followed her to Stock Island, Crean said, officers broke off the chase and handed over the pursuit to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies pursued Schneider for a time, but eventually lost sight of her car, said Becky Herrin, a spokeswoman for the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.
About an hour later, deputies caught to her at mile marker 75 of the Overseas Highway and deployed spike strips. The strips eventually caused Schneider's car to stop, Herrin said, but Schneider still refused to leave her vehicle.
Herrin said deputies had to break Schneider's car windows to make the arrest.
Schneider faces a number of charges including reckless driving and eluding police.