Woman Removes Cuffs And Steals Police Car [Video]
A Texas police department released video showing a woman slipping out of her handcuffs and stealing a police car, ultimately leading officers on a 100 mph chase. Toscha Sponsler, 33, stole a police car while in custody after her arrest for suspected shoplifting. The high-speed chase that ensued lasted over 20 minutes and reached 100 mph before she finally crashed and was apprehended.
The two-minute video, taken from body and dash cameras, shows Sponsler being handcuffed by several police officers. She is then placed in the vehicle alone while they continue to go through her bags. Sponsler watches them as she removes her seatbelt. She then proceeds to slip her hands out of the handcuffs, stopping briefly when officers walk by the window. She then jumps into the front seat of the police cruiser and takes off.
Officers try to stop her but fail. The car chase, like a scene out of a movie, continues as police officers try to block her and place nails on the road in an attempt to blow out the tires. The camera in Sponsler’s stolen car begins to bounce around, showing that she has crashed.
Even after the crash, Sponsler refuses to open the police door when cops surround her with guns. Only after they break in the window is she finally arrested.
Toscha Sponsler: Woman who hijacked police car before leading cops on wild… https://t.co/nxk2bfIVCS via @9janewsmag
— Newsmag Media (@Naijanewsmagtv) September 8, 2017
The Lufkin Police Department released the video on its social media sites on Tuesday. The high-speed car chase involved several police departments before she was spun out by a state trooper. During the chase, she nearly collided with two police cars head-on. Police officers reported that she attempted to get a weapon locked in the police car.
Toscha Sponsler, 33, of Pollok, stole a patrol unit Saturday following a call of a possible shoplifter at Ulta…. https://t.co/irE8LFazQj
— Lufkin Police Dept. (@Lufkin_Police) September 5, 2017
The scene began in the parking lot of Ulta, a store where Sponsler was suspected of shoplifting. Police responded to a call of a suspicious person on Saturday afternoon. Sponsler tried to evade police on foot before her initial arrest. The end of the video shows a police officer installing a window blocking passenger access to the front of the police car.
Assistant Police Chief David Thomas told KTRE ABC Nine News that “limiting the size of the partition window in its open position could prevent this from occurring in the future if the locking mechanism fails or is not engaged.” He also reported that an ongoing internal investigation is determining how this happened.
Sponsler is currently being held on several charges, which include first-degree escape causing serious bodily injury or threat of a deadly weapon, first degree aggravated assault against a public servant, and state-jail felony unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, among other charges. Police also found a felony amount of methamphetamine on Sponsler. The department is holding her on an $18,000 bail.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIdvy_LX9y4&t=3s
[Featured Image by Tiko Aramyan/Shutterstock]
