LORAIN— A Lorain woman led police on a high-speed chase, with a loaded gun in her car, that ended in officers rescuing her from Lake Erie.
At 1:43 a.m. Dec. 9, Lorain police got a call from a family member of the woman who said she was suicidal and had a handgun with her.
What police originally thought was a call to help someone in distress quickly turned out to be much more dangerous.
“This was a perfect storm of bad things happening,” Lorain Police Capt. Roger Watkins said.
When officers arrived in the 2400 block of E. 35th St., they say the 52-year-old woman had the gun in her hand and was holding it by her head.
Watkins said officers parked several houses away to prevent startling the woman. Usually when police respond to a call like this, their goal is to negotiate with the person to ensure they don’t harm themselves or others, he said.
“We’d like to terminate the scene with less than lethal means,” he said.
In a dash-camera video, officers can be heard repeatedly telling the woman to “drop the gun.” Police say the woman began advancing towards the officers and did not comply with the repeated directions to put the gun down.
She then got into a car.
“Don’t get in the car,” officers can be heard saying on the dash-camera video as the woman begins to drive away with the gun still with her. That is when Watkins said the situation got even worse.
“Anybody on the road at this time was clearly in danger,” he said.
For several minutes, the woman traveled at a high speed before pausing at the intersection of Root Road and East Erie Avenue.
She then accelerated through a residential backyard and drove off a cliff into Lake Erie.
“I can’t believe she didn’t die. I can’t believe she didn’t kill herself going off of that cliff,” Watkins said.
In a media release, Lorain police say the woman fell at least 35 feet in the car and traveled airborne for “a considerable distance.”
Officers could then see the woman swimming farther out into the lake, rather than trying to get to shore. Three officers went into the lake to rescue the woman.
“Officers voluntarily put themselves at risk by going into pretty cold water,” Watkins said. “They exhibited quite a bit of bravery.”
After officers got the woman out of the lake, she was taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center in Lorain for psychiatric evaluation.
It is likely she will be charged in the incident due to the danger she posed to officers and the public.
“She was advancing on officers, she was flying in a vehicle chase endangering the lives of everyone on the road,” Watkins said.
Official charges will be decided by the Lorain Prosecutor’s Office. Her name will not be released until she is officially charged.
The U. S. Coast Guard removed the vehicle from the water later in the morning. The loaded handgun was found still in the car.
“This could have very easily turned into a fatal situation. The officers used a considerable amount of restraint,” Watkins said.
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