Polk County Police ultimately were able to arrest a woman on numerous charges on Wednesday following a traffic stop, but not before she wrecked her car and attempted to run down Highway 101 on foot with one of her wrists already cuffed.
Bond has not yet been set for Patricia Lynn Barton, 34, of a Rome address, was taken into custody by Polk County Police after she attempted to get away in her car, but not before wrecking it and causing damage to a residence on Dean Road near Aragon.
Polk County Police attempted to stop Barton after she drove by an officer who was running radar on Highway 101 at the intersection of Collard Valley Road. Barton went by and the officer noted the license plate reader picked up an expired registration and the driver had a suspended license.
The officer pulled out to catch up, and Barton increased her speed in the 2012 Mitsubishi Galant. When she got to Dean Road, she turned in and then into a driveway where she first got out of the car. Barton then was asked to get back in, and when unable to provide her license or insurance she was informed it was suspended and she was being taken into custody.
When one of the handcuffs went on, Barton then suddenly decided now was the time to run and put the car in drive and the officer jumped away just in time to watch her drive through a carport into a back yard.
The officer pulled out his firearm and ordered her to stop, but Barton continued onward in the backyard, then drove into a tree attempting to escape, backed up and drove toward Highway 101 before the car nose-dived into a five-foot deep ditch and finally stopped.
Barton then fled on foot – still partially cuffed – down Highway 101 before she ultimately gave up. By then a second officer had arrived and helped take Barton into custody without further incident.
She was booked on felony charges of fleeing or attempting to elude police, obstruction of law enforcement officers, and criminal damage to property in the second degree along with a long list of misdemeanor charges. Those included obstruction, theft by taking, reckless conduct, escape, and traffic charges for window tint, operating without IRP registration, and driving while license suspended or revoked.
Barton was previously been booked into the Polk County Jail on October 2 for driving on a suspended license, expired registration and no insurance by Aragon Police. Her previous bond had been set at $3,040.
Her vehicle was towed away, but not before the reporting officer noted a tint of 13 percent on her windows.
Police did not yet have an estimate on how much damage was done to the private residence at Dean Rad where Barton drove through the carport and back yard.
