VANDALIA (MCT) — A woman who escaped from a private security escort led police on a 110 mph chase Saturday night before crashing and overturning her stolen vehicle near Vandalia, police say.
Latonya Sanders, 40, from Oswego, had to be cut free of the wreckage and flown by helicopter for treatment at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield. Her injuries weren’t serious and she was released back into custody.
State Police said the drama started about 8:50 p.m. when Sanders, wanted on multiple warrants in Kane County, allegedly got away from the private extradition company that was escorting her back from Jackson, Miss; police didn’t disclose the nature of the allegations, but they don’t involve violence. Her escort vehicle, a Dodge Charger, had stopped for a restroom break at the Jack Flash service station in Effingham when Sanders, whose hands had been freed, escaped her guards and took off in the Charger.
Police were contacted and tried tracking the car via a cellphone left inside but Sanders had thrown it out of the window. She had been heading east on I-70 when officers with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office gave chase. “Somehow she gets turned back around and is now westbound on I-70,” said State Police Master Sgt. Ryan Shoemaker, who is based out of Effingham. “The chase goes through Effingham and travels west toward Vandalia at speeds in excess of 110 mph.”
Cpl. Matt Sager with the Effingham City Police said high speed pursuits are not undertaken lightly but, in this case, it was understood a firearm had been left in the vehicle’s trunk. “If she were to obtain that … maybe she would become a violent criminal,” he said. “It was one of our deciding factors in the decision to pursue.”
The State Police coordinated the pursuit by using a special radio channel that kept all police agencies involved in touch with each other. Vandalia City Police were waiting as the stolen vehicle approached them about 10:40 p.m. and destroyed one of its front tires with a tire-puncturing device laid on the highway.
“She drives on a flat tire for quite some distance, still at a high rate of speed,” added Sgt. Shoemaker. “She attempts to take the Vandalia exit and, as a result of her not having a front tire, she loses control and rolls the vehicle several times. The damage to the car was so severe she was trapped in there for 20 minutes or so and the metal had to be cut away to free her.”
Shoemaker said even with whatever charges she was facing before, many more are now pending.
“And, thankfully, nobody else got hurt,” he added.