BRIDGEPORT, W.Va (WDTV) – A woman was arrested after leading police on a chase on I-79 Sunday morning.
Ashlee White was parked on the berm of Route 50 right before the I-79 North entrance ramp with her head on the steering wheel appearing to be asleep at approximately 11 a.m., according to the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office.
When deputies approached the vehicle, White told them she was traveling through the area and had run out of gas. Three children were crawling around in the vehicle, the car seats were broken and unsafe, and White did not have the approved amount of car seats for the number of children in the vehicle, deputies said.
West Virginia State Police also responded to the scene, along with an officer and K-9 from the White Hall Police Department. The K-9 indicated that there were illicit substances in the vehicle, and deputies told White to step out of the vehicle, court documents say.
At that time, White grabbed her child, “bear hugged him” and said “the devil is a liar,” before putting the car in drive and turning onto I-79 North toward Fairmont, deputies said.
White continued to flee from police on I-79 weaving in and out of traffic and crossing all lanes of traffic, deputies said. She was eventually stopped and taken into custody off the Meadowbrook Mall exit in the Bob Evans parking lot.
Deputies said two of the children were crawling around the vehicle throughout the chase and that she was clinging onto the third child while she fled.
A white powder that tested positive for fentanyl was found all over the floor of the vehicle, and two loaded firearms were found, along with several AR-15 style magazines loaded with ammunition, deputies said.
White is charged with three counts of child neglect creating risk of injury and one count of fleeing with reckless disregard to public safety. She is currently in the North Central Regional Jail with bond set at $500,000.
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