By Shannon Fiecke, Correspondent

A Jordan woman is in custody after authorities say she fled a traffic stop late Tuesday night, leading deputies on a chase through Spring Lake Township. 

Multiple charges are pending against the 18-year-old driver, whom authorities say took off after a deputy pulled her over at 10:50 p.m. in the hamlet of Lydia, at the intersection of Highway 13 and 205th Street.

About 50 feet down 205th Street, the woman stopped to let a male passenger out of her car and then continued toward Vergus Avenue.

The deputy stopped briefly to talk with the passenger before resuming the pursuit. The passenger, who didn’t want to take part in what the woman was doing, was asked to remain at the spot until another officer arrived. “He was cooperative,”  said Scott County Chief Deputy Dean Opatz.

The female driver, who reached speeds of around 80 miles per hour, traveled north on Vergus Avenue toward Spring Lake and into Spring Lake Circle before heading back down Vergus Avenue toward Cynthia Lake. She spun out near the County Road 8 intersection by Cynthia Lake, Opatz said. After regaining traction, the woman headed westbound on County Road 8, spinning out a final time when she reached the Highway 13 intersection.

Her vehicle landed in a farm field and the woman fled on foot, but was apprehended by Sheriff’s deputies about 100 feet later.

Opatz said alcohol is believed be a factor in the incident.

The woman was treated at St. Francis Regional Medical Center before being booked into the Scott County Jail on suspicion of fleeing an officer, fourth-degree drunken driving and having an open bottle of alcohol.

The Scott County Attorney’s Office is preparing criminal charges against the woman. The Prior Lake American doesn’t generally name suspects until charges are filed.

The woman was driving a 2000 Honda Civic, which is registered to a female Shakopee resident. Even though the vehicle belongs to someone else, it is now subject to forfeiture proceedings because of its use in a police chase, Opatz said.

The Prior Lake Police Department assisted the Sheriff’s Office with the call.
  
-Shannon Fiecke is a reporter for the Shakopee Valley News. She can be reached at (952) 345-6679 or sfiecke@swpub.com.