A Whiting woman has been charged with escape, auto theft, resisting law enforcement, possession of a controlled substance and drunken driving after authorities said she stole a police car.

Cara Ann Moynihan, 42, of the 1500 block of Cleveland, ran from police June 8 after an officer responding to a call of a prostitute in the parking lot at Flying J asked the woman to step out of the bunk area of the tractor-trailer and in front of the police car.

Moynihan was captured, placed in handcuffs and put in the back seat of a police car.

While the officer spoke to the trucker, the woman got in the front seat and drove away. The officer radioed in a report of the incident.

Meanwhile, an arriving officer spotted the police car pulling into TA Truck Stop.

Witnesses told the officer the woman, who had a pair of handcuffs hanging from one hand, ran into the store, then through the parking lot.

She ignored commands to stop and was tasered.

The woman was taken to St. Mary Medical Center because she complained of pain. A blood test showed she had benzodiazepine, cannabinoids, cocaine and opiates in her system.

In a statement to police, the woman said she “had freaked out” and stole the police car, the probable cause affidavit states.