Woman Leads Hialeah Police On Short Chase
HIALEAH (CBS4) - Police are astounded that a woman who they tried to help actually tried to hit one of their officers with her car.
Jeimy Paola Cubides, 19, was taken into custody after she reportedly led police on a short chase through the streets of Hialeah.
"Officers are there to render aid," said veteran detective Eddie Rodriguez. "The last thing they want to do is to cause harm to someone."
But police said something spooked Cubides and by the time her car crashed, she had struck at least five vehicles. "Omar" was one of her victims.
"Yes, my car was one of this hit," said "Omar," who declined to give us his last name. He told CBS4's Peter D'Oench that, "I feel a pain, a pain in my heart. But I feel good now." His damaged car was towed from the scene and he was driven away from the scene by a family member.
Police said it all started around 9 a.m. when Cubides called 911 from the Fantasy Inn Motel at 845 E. Okeechobee Road.
"She seemed a little incoherent and we weren't sure if she was suffering from an emergency or if she was suffering from some sort of emotional crisis," said Rodriguez.
Officers were sent to perform a "welfare check" on Cubides at the motel.
"When officers finally made contact with her, she began to flee from the officers and that's when we began to pursue her up Okeechobee Road at a very low rate of speed," said Rodriguez. "We finally got her stopped around East 1st Avenue and when officers approached the vehicle, she attempted to run over one of the officers and continued to flee. That's when one officer was forced to shoot. He did so to protect himself."
After hitting at least five vehicles with her Silver Nissan, the chase came to a crashing end at West 4th Avenue when the officers were able to take her into custody. No one was hurt seriously. Some officers did receive some scrapes and bruises.
Detectives said she was alone in the car and were not sure why she tried to strike an officer.
Chopper 4 over the scene spotted the handcuffed woman sitting on the curb of a median surrounded by police and fire rescue personnel.
In the street of front of Cubides was a her silver Nissan Ultima with severe damage to the front passenger side of the car. A grey car next to it also showed damage on its passenger side. A short distance away was a dark Honda Accord with damage to the rear of the vehicle. A dark gray SUV which came to rest in the entrance of parking lot had damage to its right rear panel.
Cubides was taken to a hospital for observation.
Rodriguez said Cubides was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest without violence. She also has an arrest history, Rodriguez said.
The end of the incident may have been captured on surveillance tape by a camera at a Marathon gas station. But a gas station employee told D'Oench that Hialeah Police took that tape in order to view it. It's not known if that tape will be released.
