ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — A woman in St. Petersburg led police on a chase through Pinellas County before crashing into another vehicle and sending both into the concrete median, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
At around 12:30 p.m. on Friday, a trooper on northbound U.S. Highway 19 noticed a Hyundai Sonata driving recklessly near Ulmerton Road.
Instead of pulling over for the traffic stop, the driver, later identified as 31-year-old Leondra Walden, fled, FHP said.
Walden continued north before getting off the highway at Roosevelt Boulevard, making a U-turn, and getting on southbound US-19.
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She continued south as more troopers joined the pursuit and eventually exited onto Gandy Boulevard, then onto the northbound entrance ramp to Interstate 275.
The pursuit ended when Walden lost control of the car and crashed into the back of a Toyota RAV4 near mile marker 29.5 on I-275.
The force caused both cars to spin out and collide with the concrete median separating the northbound and southbound lanes.
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Fortunately, the driver of the Toyota was uninjured.
Walden was taken into custody without further incident and booked into the Pinellas County Jail. She has been charged with fleeing and eluding law enforcement, reckless driving, careless driving, attaching an unassigned tag, driving with a revoked license, and driving without insurance.
A search of court records revealed Walden has a long history of driving infractions, including multiple for driving without a valid license, speeding, reckless driving and leaving the scene of a crash.
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