CHARLOTTE, Tenn. — A Tennessee woman is in custody after stealing a patrol vehicle during an arrest last night.
Jennifer Karol Cunningham, 27, was arrested after reportedly taking officers on a car chase. After Cunningham was in police custody, she stole a patrol vehicle and ran it into another patrol car, deputies said.
Officers report that she was driving under the influence before the pursuit began. Cunningham refused to pull over when officers prompted her to and drove until her car became disabled, they said.
Cunningham resisted arrest when officers were able to stop her. She was tased by a deputy as a result. Afterward, deputies placed her in handcuffs and sat her in the backseat of a patrol car.
Cunningham was able to pull her hands to the front of her body before climbing through the partition in the patrol vehicle to the front seat.
She took control of the patrol car and hit a parked patrol car in an attempt to flee the scene, officers reported. Deputies retrieved control of the car and she was placed back into the backseat of the patrol car.
Cunningham is facing several charges including driving under the influence second offense from the initial vehicle she was driving, felony theft, two counts of vandalism of government property, felony evading, two counts of tampering with evidence, two counts of simple possession, introduction of contraband, driving on revoked license fourth offense, escape, resisting stop, halt, two counts of frisk, two counts of reckless endangerment with a weapon, aggravated assault, assault, leaving the scene of an accident, and an outstanding warrant from Dickson County for failure to appear.
During the incident, the Tennessee Highway Patrol responded to the scene to assist with the crash between the two patrol vehicles. THP is requesting that Cunningham be given an additional charge for driving the patrol car.
The bond for Cunningham is set at $166,000 and she is set to appear in court on May 17.
This story was first reported by Jason Lamb at WTVF in Nashville, Tenn.
