ARLINGTON – An Arlington woman was arrested Wednesday after she allegedly flagged down a van, choked and hit the female driver while her 10-year-old daughter watched, then jumped into the back of a passing pickup.
Arlington police believe the woman was under the influence of methamphetamine, court documents say.
The incident occurred about 5:30 p.m. that day when the woman, 38, flagged down the van’s driver along N. Olympic Avenue. The suspect told the victim, a 45-year-old Arlington woman, that she was “being chased” by someone and needed a lift. The suspect asked the driver for a ride to a gas station on 67th Avenue, and she agreed to take her.
When they arrived, the suspect asked to go to Smokey Point, but the driver said she had somewhere else to go. The woman climbed into the front of the van, sat on the van’s center console between the mother and daughter, then grabbed the driver’s scarf she was wearing and choked her with it, documents say.
The suspect elbowed the driver in the face, bloodying her nose and chipping a front tooth, while pressing her foot down on the gas pedal over the driver’s foot, causing the van to speed onto 211th, documents say.
The suspect then ran a stop sign atHighway 530 heading westbound while the driver struggled to regain control, police said. She was eventually able to pull the car onto the shoulder.
The suspect jumped out and flagged down passing vehicles, with several stopping because onlookers believed that there had been a crash, police said.
That’s when the suspect climbed into the bed of a pickup headed eastbound on 211th , then got out of the truck and ran to a nearby house as the truck driver called 911.
A state patrol trooper contacted the victim, believing that there had been a crash. At that point, she reported the attack in the van. Arlington officers contacted the pickup driver, then took the suspect into custody.
The suspect reportedly told police that she had been choked from behind in the van by a man with a dog leash, leading her to climb up front. She acknowledged choking the driver and trying to take control of the vehicle.
The woman showed effects of being under the influence of meth and advised police that she believed her husband was injecting her with the drug while she sleeps, court documents said. She was arrested on suspicion of assault and unlawful imprisonment.
