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 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 37-year-old Columbia resident 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.