An Atlanta woman recently accepted a plea deal after leading Arkansas authorities on a high-speed chase and hitting a patrol car, records show.
Stephanie Lynn Tighe, 35, was held in the Pulaski County, Ark., jail for more than 200 days before she pleaded guilty, accepting a three-year prison sentence, jail records show.
On April 2, she was accused of fraudulently taking out money from four bank branches before Little Rock police found her at a fifth bank, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. When an officer approached her, she allegedly sped off, leading the officers on a chase that topped 100 mph.
She was driving an SUV with stolen license plates, and she drove into oncoming traffic at some point during the chase, the newspaper reported.
The pursuit ended on Greenbrier Road, where Tighe rammed the right front passenger side of an officer’s patrol car. The officer had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit, and the impact flipped her SUV on its side.
She didn’t have any of the money she had taken from the bank on her, and she said she’d already given it to two people from Florida, the Democrat-Gazette reported. Tighe allegedly stole or forged two people’s identified to commit the thefts.
In total, she allegedly withdrew about $8,700 from the first four banks and was attempting to take out another $2,000 from the fifth one before police found her, the newspaper reported. One of the victims notified police after one of the earlier fraudulent withdrawals.
She will have to pay back $5,850 in restitution to the bank in addition to $4,224 for the damages to the patrol car, the Democrat-Gazette reported. She will also serve seven years on suspension after her prison time.
In her plea deal this week, Tighe pleaded guilty to aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, theft by receiving, identify fraud, criminal mischief, fleeing police and two counts of forgery, the newspaper reported. Those felony charges carry a maximum of 46 years in prison in Arkansas.
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