Woman rams stolen car into police vehicle and Richland storage center fence

A woman behind the wheel of a stolen car rammed fences and a police car trying to escape being caught.

Emily Sanchez, 28, of Pasco, allegedly drove the car to a self-storage facility near Columbia Park Trail and Jericho Court, near Queensgate Drive, Richland police said in a Facebook post. A witness suspected the car might be stolen and called police.

When officers arrived they soon learned the license plates were stolen. Sanchez refused to get out of the car, and began driving around the storage facility, police said.

Officers were able to get Sanchez on the phone and tried to convince her to stop and surrender, but she kept driving.

After police used devices to flatten several of her tires, Sanchez allegedly started driving erratically, ramming several areas of the fence.

Police backed out of the facility in an attempt to deescalate the situation, but the woman didn’t stop. She drove out of the facility, and slammed into an unoccupied police car several times, Richland police said.

She then turned into an open field, and quickly got stuck. But she still refused to leave her car, which they discovered had been stolen.

Officers pinned the car between two patrol vehicles and fired a pepperball into the car. Pepperballs are similar to paintballs, but contain the same ingredients as pepper spray.

Sanchez surrendered and was booked into the Benton County jail on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle, attempting to elude police, second-degree burglary and first-degree malicious mischief.