A woman wanted by police in Brookhaven and Atlanta was arrested in Las Vegas, officials announced Tuesday.
Essence Barkley, 24, was being sought by Brookhaven police because she allegedly drove away from officers after being pulled over in September, almost striking them.
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She is also accused of fleeing from Atlanta officers in May, according to a statement from Brookhaven police.
In Las Vegas, she was charged with two counts of burglary, two counts of possession of credit cards without the owner’s consent, possession of stolen property and attempted theft, Brookhaven police said.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s “major violators unit” took Barkley into custody. She will face the Nevada charges first before being extradited to Georgia, officials said.
Credit: Brookhaven Police Department
Credit: Brookhaven Police Department
Her Sept. 19 encounter with Brookhaven police began when a Chamblee officer followed her into Brookhaven city limits, police said. She was allegedly driving a car with a stolen license plate.
A Brookhaven police sergeant joined to follow the car into a parking lot. Body-worn camera released by the police department shows the woman stopped her car next to a drive-thru Chase ATM.
The two officers approached her from both sides of the car. About a minute after the officers arrived, the video shows, she reversed and then accelerated forward, speeding away from police.
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“The movements of her vehicle nearly pinned the Brookhaven officer against the concrete surroundings of the ATM,” Brookhaven police said in a statement.
Officers from Brookhaven and Chamblee pursued the Mercedes south on I-85 before the driver got onto I-85 north. “Citing heavy traffic and the continuing risk to the public,” police said, they ended the pursuit.
Police later found the car abandoned and identified Barkley as a suspect.
Officials did not say why Barkley was in Las Vegas.
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