Handcuffed Woman Flees in Sheriff's Vehicle, Crashed into an oncoming car

8/13/02
DENVER - A woman who was arrested and had her hands
cuffed behind her back wiggled under the steering wheel of a
sheriff's sports utility vehicle and sped away before crashing 
into an oncoming car.

The impact caused the SUV to roll three times, ejecting 30-year-
old Thuy Trinh Tran in the process. She was in serious condition
Monday at St. Anthony Central Hospital.
 
"I have no idea how she could have driven. Nobody does," said 
Colorado state Patrol Trooper Dan Eldera.

The incident began at around 6:30 a.m. Sunday, when Tran and 
Steve Ramsey, 37, checked into a Winter Park motel. Within 
minutes, Tran phoned police and reported that Ramsey was 
hallucinating, but said that he was not overdosing on drugs. 

When police arrived, they found drug paraphernalia and possible 
cocaine. Ramsey was arrested on felony narcotics charges.

Meanwhile, Tran fled the motel in her vehicle. Shortly thereafter, 
a deputy sheriff spotted Tran's car about 20 miles from the motel. 
Deputies spotted syringes and other drug paraphernalia in her car,
so she was arrested as well.

She was handcuffed behind her back and placed in the front seat 
of a police SUV. Grand County Undersheriff Glen Trainor said that
seating a restrained prisoner in the front seat is routine when 
the back seat is not partitioned for transporting suspects.

However, the deputies left the engine running. "We don't have 
a regulation prohibiting that, but, obviously, we're reevaluating
that," Trainor said.

The petite Tran was able to maneuver so she could put the automatic
transmission in gear, step on the gas and steer the vehicle along 
U.S. 40. Police said she reached 60 mph on the highway before 
crossing the centerline crashing into the other car.

Tran faces several felony charges, including possession of narcotics 
and aggravated motor vehicle theft.

Trainor said about two-thirds of the departments 18 patrol cars
are equipped with partitions, and that the new cars will be equipped 
with them after delivery.


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Backup news staff writer Stacey Opland
http://www.thebackup.com/searchl/archives_newsdetail.asp?id=535005324