Four children in SUV that crashed after their mom led officers on chase, SC police say
A woman was in custody after leading law enforcement officers on a chase that ended with her crashing a car with her four young children inside, the Forest Acres Police Department said.
The pursuit and collision happened Tuesday night, police said in a news release.
At about 6:20 p.m., officers responded to a 911 call about shoplifting happening at Trenholm Plaza, according to the release. Police said at least two stores in the shopping center on Forest Drive in Columbia were targeted.
At the scene, witnesses described the shoplifting suspect and her vehicle to the officers, who used that information to locate the woman, according to the release. Police said Ashley Nicole Baker was the woman accused of shoplifting.
An officer turned on his blue lights and tried to pull over a black Honda Pilot while it was still in the shopping center’s parking lot, but the driver, later identified as Baker, refused to stop and headed out onto Forest Drive, police said.
She attempted to evade police and continued to drive away on Forest Drive and other side streets before turning onto South Trenholm Road, ignoring pursuing police patrol cars that had their lights and sirens activated, according to the release.
The Honda hit a patrol car on the side and Baker lost control of her vehicle, causing the SUV to flip over a brick barrier into a nearby yard, police said. The SUV landed on its hood, just feet from the resident’s front door in the 4100 block of South Trenholm Road, according to the release. That’s a little more than a mile away from the shopping center, and is in the direction heading toward downtown Columbia.
At that point, Baker got out of the wrecked SUV and was taken into custody, according to the release. Police said she suffered minor injuries in the crash.
Baker’s four children — all 13-year-old or younger — were found in the SUV, according to the release. The kids were all responsive and were taken to an area hospital for further evaluation, police said. All of the children’s injuries appear to be non-life threatening, according to police.
Later, Baker was also taken to the hospital to be evaluated, police said. She remains in custody at the hospital and multiple charges are pending, according to the release. Information about the charges was not available.
The officer whose patrol vehicle was hit during the chase was not injured, but the car suffered damage, police said.
“It is miraculous these four children walked away from this accident,” Forest Acres Police Chief Chief Don Robinson said in the release. “Incidents like these also endanger our officer’s lives. Rest assured we will be looking at potential charges that uphold the fullest extent of the law.”
The pursuit and collision remain under investigation, police said. There was no word if the shoplifting incident remains under investigation.
