On Thursday, April 2, 2015, Pinal County Sheriff’s Deputies engaged in a pursuit leading to the arrest of a 53 year old Coolidge woman claiming she believed law enforcement was after terrorists, not her.
The incident began at approximately 10:45 a.m. when a Pinal County Sheriff’s Deputy was traveling west on Bartlett Rd., near Florence, AZ. In front of him, the Deputy observed a small silver in color Sports Utility Vehicle drive onto Bartlett, heading west towards HWY 79. As the vehicle approached the intersection of HWY 79 and Bartlett Rd., it did not attempt to slow or stop at the stop sign.
The Deputy followed the vehicle onto HWY 79, heading north, and caught up to it south of Cactus Forest Rd., at which point he attempted to initiate a traffic stop for Failure to Yield.
The driver of the vehicle, later identified as Debra Rome, 53 of Coolidge, noticeably looked into the mirror of her vehicle and directly at the Deputy multiple times but made no attempt to stop as she continued to drive north into the Town of Florence.
A pursuit was initiated and additional units responded. Deputies deployed stop sticks south of the intersection of HWY 79 and Butte Ave and the driver skidded to a stop and attempted to swerve around them. Both left-side tires were successfully taken out, however.
A second set of spikes were deployed, still south of HWY 79 and Butte, with several marked and unmarked law enforcement vehicles in the roadway – all with emergency lights and sirens activated. The driver of the vehicle again attempted to avoid the stop sticks and increased her rate of speed as she made several turns onto side streets ending up at the intersection of E. Ruggles St. and N. Main St., where she turned around in the U.S. Postal Service Office parking lot, in Florence, and began to head south on Main St.
Near the intersection of Main St. and Stewart St., the vehicle was spun around by a marked patrol unit and the pursuit came to an end, when the driver was removed from her vehicle and arrested.
While being placed in the patrol vehicle, Rome stated she thought Deputies were after terrorists and did not know they were after her. She made reference to the terrorist events in Paris, France and also stated she is bipolar and could practically get away with murder using an insanity plea.
Rome was booked into the Pinal County Sheriff’s Jail on Unlawful Flight from Law Enforcement and a routine warrants check found an outstanding warrant for her out of Pinal County Superior Court for Aggravated Assault on Law Enforcement.
Sheriff Babeu stated, “Rome is no stranger to law enforcement and unfortunately, many individuals in our communities do struggle with mental health issues every day. Using the claim of a brain disorder, however, does not permit an individual to willfully flee from law enforcement or place the lives of the public at risk.”