OCONEE COUNTY, Ga. — A Georgia woman was accused of shoplifting a grocery cart full of items at a Walmart, but what she did next made the situation escalate quickly, eventually turning into a chase in a stolen patrol vehicle that reached more than 120 mph.
The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office said Crystal Broadnex is accused of shoplifting from the Walmart on Epps Bridge Parkway in mid-May.
A loss prevention employee at the store called deputies to say a woman, later identified as Broadnex, had concealed multiple items in a tote and bag inside of a shopping cart.
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With deputies on the way, the employee kept track of Broadnex as she continued concealing various items.
Deputies arrived as Broadnex tried to leave the store through the grocery entrance with the loaded shopping cart when she was stopped at the door and the employee attempted to take the cart full of items from her.
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The arrest report from the sheriff’s office said that’s when Broadnex stuck her tongue out, laughed, then left the store.
That’s when she saw the deputies, yelled an expletive and ran away when deputies tried to stop her.
Broadnex fought the back as a deputy tried to handcuff her, biting the deputy and screaming while swatting at their body camera, the report says.
As the deputy pulled out a taser to subdue Broadnex, she tried to hit them in the face, but was eventually handcuffed and put into the patrol vehicle.
While one deputy reviewed security footage, two others stayed with Broadnex, but “moments later,” a deputy ran into the store telling the first to respond that Broadnex had stolen the patrol car.
The deputies got into a vehicle and pursued her on the highway. Dispatch told Oconee deputies that Barrow County deputies were attempting to perform a PIT maneuver on Broadnex in the patrol car to end the chase.
After hitting speeds over 120 mph, Broadnex crashed into two vehicles, then into a guardrail at W. University Parkway and Monroe Highway.
Arriving on scene, deputies saw the patrol vehicle was significantly damaged and a wrecker came to tow it away. Broadnex was taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation and warrants were requested for her arrest.
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