Photo: Lynda Woodruff
A Baxter County woman, 59-year-old Lynda Woodruff, has been charged with felony fleeing, along with unauthorized use of a vehicle and reckless driving, after she reportedly left the scene of a crash Friday afternoon in Mountain Home.
According to a Baxter County Sheriff’s Office report, an officer was traveling north on East Ninth Street when he observed some type of disturbance in a parking lot. He then reported seeing a dark blue pickup truck leaving the parking lot in a “reckless manner” and pull onto Arkansas Highway 5 in front of a vehicle, almost causing a crash.
The officer initiated the blue lights of his patrol unit and attempted to stop the truck. However, it sped past him, while accelerating at a high rate of speed heading south on Highway 5.
The officer turned his vehicle in pursuit of the fleeing truck, which he observed pass a vehicle on the south end of the Highway 5 overpass. In doing so, the truck almost hit an oncoming vehicle and nearly sideswiped the one it was passing.
The truck was reportedly traveling recklessly at a high rate of speed sometimes reaching over 70 miles per hour after turning onto Old Tracy Road. It was observed crossing the centerline of the roadway several times and traveling on the wrong side of the road.
The vehicle abruptly came to a stop, after the driver appeared to almost lose control of the truck. The driver, identified as Woodruff, was removed from the truck without incident.
Dispatch advised the owner of the truck, whose address on Old Tracy Road is the same as Woodruff’s, had called law enforcement to report she had stolen the vehicle.
Online jail logs list Woodruff being charged with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage, reckless driving, failure to yield from private drive, fleeing and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. She was released Saturday after posting a bond of $4,230.
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