Woman slips out of cuff, hijacks police car and led officers on the chase of their life

I use to think stunts like this only happen in movies but I was wrong. A 33-year-old Texas woman put on a crazy show on Saturday last week when she slipped out of her handcuffs, stole a police SUV and lead officers on a breathtaking high-speed chase. You need to see this this to believe it.

Unlike we see in the movies, most accused shoplifters would call it quits when they got busted, but Toscha Sponsler isn’t one of them.

Sponsler was arrested and handcuffed by the police, after she was found with a bag full of allegedly stolen goods and put in the back of a squad patrol car.

But the officer left the partition of the car open to allow her to receive more air conditioning in the back seat, while they examine evidence at the scene, and also speak with her through the course of the investigation, but for Toscha, it was - quite literally - the perfect opportunity to carry out her deeds.

While they sorted through her bag outside the car, Toscha managed to undo her seatbelt and wriggle out of the handcuffs and waited until no one took notice before contorting herself through the 30-centimetre gap into the driver’s seat.

What happened next is something you can only see in the movies. Officers were stunned to hear the engine fire up. “God dang,” one of the officers shouted, desperately grabbing at the door.

Footage from his body camera shows that while he managed to get the door open, he was unable to jump inside as Toscha burst the car out of the car park.

She then led officers on a 23-minute chase through the surrounding countryside, weaving all over the road and reaching speeds up to 160km/h.

Dashcam video shows a number of near misses with other police cars, and a wild swerve as she drove into a ditch to avoid a device intended to puncture her tyres.

Eventually an officer was able to cut her off using a PIT manoeuvre, a high-speed technique that forces the car in front to turn sideways and spin out of control.

At this time, two officers jumped out of their cars and drew their weapons as she recovered from the abrupt stop, while a third smashed the driver’s window.
 
She was taken to the Angelica County Jail and is currently imprisoned on a $22,500 bond.

Sponsler was charged with escape causing serious bodily injury/threat of a deadly weapon, aggravated assault against a public servant, possession of a controlled substance, evading arrest with a vehicle with a previous conviction and unauthorised use of a vehicle while additional charges are pending.

They certainly won't make that mistake again.