A Florida woman was arrested on Thanksgiving after police said she drove recklessly toward a 5K Turkey Trot racecourse in St. Petersburg, while leaving the scene of a crash.
According to officers, 38-year-old Ashlee Lauren Morgan sped toward the secure racecourse, where 3,000 runners were participating in a 5K, around 8 a.m.
She was seen driving recklessly south on Coffee Pot Boulevard NE, approaching the Snell Isle Bridge, when three officers made contact with her and asked for her credentials, the department said.
Officers said she refused and fled the scene at a high rate of speed, heading to the racecourse. At the intersection of Snell Isle NE and Brightwater NE boulevards, another officer attempted to stop her and she fled again, speeding past two marked cruisers with their emergency lights on and several safety cones.
According to the department, an officer eventually stopped her at Brightwater Boulevard NE and Lamara Way NE and later learned she had been leaving the scene of a crash on 26 Avenue NE and 1 Street NE, where she struck a stop sign.
“Thanks to the quick response of the officers on scene, they were able to stop her, and avert what could have ended up being tragic results,” a spokeswoman for the St. Petersburg Police Department said in an email.
While under arrest, police said she banged her head against the windows and attempted to escape, leading them to pepper spray her.
Morgan faces multiple charges for reckless driving, fleeing and eluding law enforcement, leaving the scene of a crash with property damage and resisting an officer without violence.