Urbandale, IA - Drunk Woman Steals Police Car from Accident Scene - Crashes Police Car
Urbandale, October 25th, 2006 - An Urbandale woman is facing numerous
charges after she took police on a wild ride. It started with a car crash, led
to a chase, and ended with another crash. One of those crashes involved a stolen
Urbandale police car.
It all started on Sunday night. Urbandale Police were responding to an accident
on 35-80 near 100th street. The accident involved a car driven by 24-year old
Emily Olson. The van was carrying a family of four. As police began to
investigate the crash, they asked Olson to wait in the back of the squad car. At the
time, Olson was not under arrest.
Olson didn't wait long before she squeezed through the small window of the
squad car, and climbed from the back seat into front seat. When she landed in
the drivers seat she took off.
During her ride in the the squad car, police say Olson hit a median, drove
the wrong way down Merle Hay Road, and eventually caused another accident when
she
hit a parked SUV.
Police say she eventually bailed out the car. They arrested her on her parent's
front porch.
"To see a squad car drive off would be about sickening, I would imagine for an
officer" said Sgt. Dave Disney with the Urbandale Police Department.
As a result of her wild ride, Emily Olson is facing a number of traffic
charges, along with eluding and first degree theft. There is also the
possibility she'll be charged with two OWI's.
Urbandale police now say they plan on changing all of the cage windows in the
squad cars so they only open so far.