Woman faces 16 felony charges for chaotic West LA pursuit, crashing into 5 police vehicles

The woman who led police on a chaotic, dangerous high-speed pursuit through West Los Angeles, crashing into cars as she drove the wrong way on the 405 freeway, faces 16 felony charges the District Attorney's Office announced Wednesday.

Lisa Ann Heflin, 41, pleaded not guilty to the charges Wednesday, including 10 counts of assault upon a peace officer.

Los Angeles Police Department officers first encountered Heflin Friday, May 17 as they responded to a disturbance call at 4:30 a.m. at Rose and Fourth avenues in Venice.

When officers approached her, she allegedly got into her van and drove off, crashing into a police vehicle as she drove.

She continued to lead police on a 30-minute pursuit through Venice, Santa Monica and West Los Angeles before getting on the northbound 405 freeway. During her high-speed chase, she appeared to intentionally drive her van at LAPD vehicles.

Police tried to stop her, using several PIT maneuvers, but Heflin continued on, driving in circles and going the wrong way on the freeway, with smoke coming up from the van's hood.

The pursuit ended as Heflin drove into oncoming traffic, hitting three drivers before climbing on the roof of her van and jumping onto the hood of a semi-truck.

The semi-truck driver said Heflin was saying "open the door, open the door, I need help!"

Five officers were injured during the chaos, two of which were hospitalized before being treated and released, according to the LAPD.