By Devin Simmons
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Friday February 28, 2003
A Tucson woman who led police on a chase from the university area to East Orange Grove Road Tuesday was cited on charges of reckless driving and failure to obey/comply with a police officer, reports stated.
A UAPD officer was on patrol at North Park Avenue and East University Boulevard when he saw a tan/gold Saturn run a stop sign at the intersection, reports stated.
The driver also failed to stop at North Euclid Avenue and East University Boulevard. The officer attempted a traffic stop at North Euclid Avenue and North First Avenue, and the driver momentarily pulled over, but then turned westbound on North First Avenue. The driver then failed to stop at stop signs between North First and North Fourth Avenues, reports stated.
The driver maintained 25 mph while driving down East First Street, and police tried to get her attention by turning on horns and activating the siren, but she turned north on North Fourth Ave. Then she turned east on East Grant Road, reports stated.
By this time another police cruiser joined what police called a "non-pursuit." The driver turned north on North Campbell Avenue and stopped in the middle of the road at East Limberlost Road, reports stated.
One of the officers pulled up alongside the vehicle and attempted to open the passenger door. But the driver of the vehicle, described as a white female in her late forties, continued driving, and almost hit another vehicle in the oncoming lane, reports stated.
The woman continued down North Campbell Ave., running red lights at North River and East Skyline Roads. She turned left on East Skyline Road and then left onto East Orange Grove Road. She attempted to make a U-turn at North Camino Padre Isidoro, but was blocked in by the cruisers that had followed her, reports stated.
One of the officers got the woman out of the vehicle and asked her why she would not pull over. She said, "Because you asked me to and you are predictable." Tucson Police Department dispatch informed the officers that the woman had been pulled over earlier that day and was mentally unstable, reports stated.
The woman was taken to Pima County Jail, reports stated.
A UA student was assaulted Monday by two male subjects as he walked from Coronado Residence Hall to the Student Recreation Center around 6 a.m.
The student was at North Park Avenue and East South Campus Drive when he was struck by a car mirror with black trim. The victim saw a red two-door sedan speed past him at a high rate of speed and turn north on North Park Avenue, reports stated.
The victim ran after the car, which he said had three passengers in it. The victim saw the car in the drive thru of Jack in the Box, 934 E. Speedway Blvd. The victim confronted the passengers in the car from the sidewalk, and asked them if they had a problem, reports stated.
The rear passenger then made racial slurs toward the victim and said, "You immigrant" and "Why did they let you in this country?" The rear passenger threatened to beat him up, and then the victim began to throw rocks at the car.
The victim then stopped throwing rocks and started back toward the Rec. Center. When he reached North Park Avenue and East South Campus Drive, he was cut off by a white Toyota pickup truck, reports stated.
The victim recognized one of the two passengers in the truck as the rear passenger in the red sedan he confronted earlier. One of the truck's passengers got out of the truck, approached the victim and said, "We're going to kick your ass," reports stated.
The victim told the two males that he did not want them throwing things at him and, if they wanted to fight, they would fight like men, with no guns or knives, reports stated.
The suspects surrounded the victim, clenched their fists, and backed him into a rock wall. One of the suspects reached for him, but the victim punched him in the nose. The other suspect hit the victim in the face with his fist and the suspect that was previously struck in the face hit the victim in the lower lip, reports stated.
The victim then took a swing at one of the suspects and missed, but with a follow-up punch, struck one of the suspects in the face two more times, causing him to fall to the ground, reports stated.
The victim then ran to an emergency blue-light phone on the southwest corner of North Park Avenue and East Fourth Street to notify police.
The victim saw one of the suspects drag the other suspect into the white truck. He observed that both suspects were bleeding from the face, reports stated.
UA police found the car mirror and took it as evidence. One of the suspects also left behind an Adidas Samba shoe that the victim confirmed the suspect was wearing. Police also took photos of blood at the scene and took them into evidence, reports stated.