PENSACOLA, Fla. (WALA) – A 40-year-old Pensacola woman was sentenced this week to state prison for multiple offenses stemming from a police chase with children in her vehicle after she had hit a bicyclist.
Judge Amy Brodersen on Wednesday handed Christina Lynn Chenault a 15-year prison sentence for fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer, three counts of child neglect, leaving the scene of a crash with injuries, driving with a suspended license and reckless driving.
The crash and chase happened on Jan. 5. Chenault was driving with a suspended license when she hit a teen bicyclist at the intersection of Cross and Tarragona streets in Pensacola, according to the Office of the State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit of Florida. The teen suffered non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.
However, when police arrived at the scene of the crash, Chenault got into her car and took off. After driving through a residential area, she got on Interstate 10, reaching high rates of speed, prosecutors said. Upon seeing a Florida Highway Patrol blockade, she made a U-turn and tried to get away, but officers were able to perform a PIT maneuver and stop her, officials said…