Officers injured in pursuit

Deepa Bharath

A 37-year-old Anaheim woman, stopped by police as she tried to buy

drugs in Santa Ana, led officers on a 40-minute chase Tuesday through

two cities, injuring five Costa Mesa police officers before she was

arrested, officials said.

Michelle White was first spotted by Santa Ana police officers

during an apparent drug transaction in the 1900 block of Walnut

Street at about 4:30 p.m., Santa Ana Police Sgt. Carlos Rojas said.

White drove away from the scene in her black Lexus sport utility

vehicle with the officers in pursuit, he said. Another man, who was

selling her the drugs and was riding in the passenger seat of the

SUV, jumped out of the car when they were still driving in Santa Ana

and surrendered to police, Rojas said.

She then continued to drive into Costa Mesa with city police

chasing her, Costa Mesa Police Lt. John FitzPatrick said.

“She was driving around for 30 minutes before we were able to stop

her,” he said. “It wasn’t a high-speed chase. The speed never

exceeded 45 miles an hour.”

Halfway into the pursuit, Costa Mesa police placed spike strips

near the intersection of Newport Boulevard and Bristol Street,

blowing out all four of her car tires, FitzPatrick said.

“But she continued driving for 10 minutes after that with flat

tires,” he said.

The pursuit ended at the intersection of Newport Boulevard and

Fair Drive when two police officers held on to the slow-moving SUV --

which was grinding to a halt -- and smashed out both front windows,

FitzPatrick said. One of the officers then reached in and pulled her

hands back from the steering wheel while the other turned off the

ignition, he said.

At the intersection, right before the officers acted, White backed

up the Lexus, hitting and felling three motorcycle officers who were

behind her, then went on to hit a van in the side and another car

behind her, he said. She also rammed into two other police cars,

FitzPatrick said.

“She was deliberately striking the police vehicles,” FitzPatrick

said. “She was getting violent.”

All five officers suffered minor injuries, he said. One officer,

who suffered cuts, was taken to Hoag Hospital for treatment, while

the others were treated by paramedics on scene. The two officers who

stopped the car were also cut by the breaking glass, as was White,

FitzPatrick said.

White might have been under the influence of drugs, he said. At

one point during the pursuit, Santa Ana narcotics detectives observed

White smoking free-base cocaine as she was driving, FitzPatrick said.

Officers found drugs and paraphernalia in the SUV, , he said.

White was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on

police officers and civilians and felony evading, FitzPatrick said.

Police shut off the Del Mar Avenue overpass for more than an hour.

Crime scene investigators and detectives buzzed around, collecting

evidence from the car -- a newspaper, a pack of Marlboro cigarettes

and a real estate mortgage sign among many other items.

Mansi Shah, a 23-year-old Costa Mesa resident whose car was one of

the vehicles White hit, said the incident caught her unawares.

“At first I didn’t even think it was a chase,” she said. “I saw

her tires were blown, and I thought police were escorting her or

something.”

Then, Shah said, she saw the officers being hit and falling onto

the street and realized something was wrong.

“She hit me twice with the car,” she said.

Shah said her car was badly scratched and that the bumper had come

off.

“It was scary to be a part of something like this,” she said.

“I’ve watched this stuff on TV. But I never thought it would happen

to me.”

White is being held at Orange County Jail in lieu of a $50,000

bail.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.