Newport woman arrested after slow-speed chase

Greg Risling

COSTA MESA -- A Newport Beach woman apparently pained by a back injury

led police on a slow-moving car chase Tuesday night through three

counties, ending on a dead-end frontage road.

Blair Andrea Lewis, 39, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the

influence and resisting and evading arrest. She was first taken to a

Redlands-area hospital before she was transported to West Valley

Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

Costa Mesa police were the first to encounter Lewis at 8:40 p.m. while

she was sitting in her car on the 2300 block of Newport Boulevard.

Authorities said she appeared to be slumped over the steering wheel and

when they tried to contact her, she was startled and drove away.

Lewis headed northbound on Newport Boulevard before taking an onramp to

the Costa Mesa Freeway. She drove northbound until she approached the

Riverside Freeway and then headed eastbound. Police said Lewis never

exceeded the speed limit, traveling between 30 and 61 mph.

“She wasn’t driving recklessly in any way,” said California Highway

Patrol Officer Oscar Medellin.

Lewis made the transition from the Riverside Freeway to the Escondido

Freeway. She finally made her last freeway transition -- eastbound on the

San Bernardino Freeway -- at about 9:40 p.m., taking an exit in the city

of Yucaipa. She then turned onto a frontage road that runs parallel to

the freeway.

“She probably didn’t know where she was going because she turned onto a

road that dead ends,” Medellin said. “Our officers were able to block her

from going anywhere else.”

Lewis reportedly didn’t listen to officers’ commands and refused to get

out of her car. She was arrested when one officer distracted her and

another was able to enter the vehicle on the passenger side.

Lewis was transported to a hospital because she complained about pain

from a back surgery she had last month. Police said Lewis was taking

prescription drugs for the pain and determined she was driving under the

influence.