Crime scene tape. Courtesy FBI
A woman accused of driving the wrong way on a freeway, ramming into several law enforcement patrol cars, then barricading herself inside her vehicle in Lakeside, pleaded not guilty Monday to 10 felony counts, including four counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.
Last Thursday’s chase began around 1 a.m., with California Highway Patrol officers and sheriff’s deputies responding to reports of a wrong-way driver on state Route 67.
During the subsequent pursuit, police said the alleged driver, 57-year-old Donna Lee Barnhill, rammed multiple patrol cars with a Chevrolet Camaro, then barricaded herself in the car on Gold Bar Way.
ABC 10News reported that the suspect livestreamed the event on Facebook during the standoff. Footage of the chase shows the Camaro spinning out and crashing into a curb, sending one of its tires rolling down the roadway. The car comes to a stop and a deputy is later seen trying to smash the driver’s side window open.
Barnhill was initially booked into county jail on multiple counts of attempted murder, but now faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon of a police officer, resisting arrest and evading officers with reckless driving.
She faces more than a decade in state prison if convicted of all counts and remains in custody without bail.
City News Service contributed to this article.