I’m trying to figure out exactly what Rachel Thornburg thought was going to happen here. Was the idea that police would give up on chasing her after a certain point, she would abandon the car someplace and then pick it up later once the heat had hopefully died down? I suppose that’s not the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, but it still seems to me that the most likely outcome would have been exactly what ended up playing out.
Rachel Thornburg, 20, was speeding Tuesday on a highway in Clinton, a city roughly 85 miles east of Cedar Rapids, officials said, and a deputy tried to stop her.
The driver fled, went through a red light, and led police on a chase, the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
During that chase, the sheriff’s office received a call from Thornburg claiming she left her keys in her car, and that it had been stolen. The vehicle, she said, was a 1998 grey Buick Century — the same car the deputy was pursuing.
Thornburg allegedly drove into neighboring Scott County, where police tried and failed to use Stop Sticks — a device used to deflate tires. Iowa State Patrol, however, had better luck with the device, and was able to stop the pursuit less than an hour later.
She now faces several charges, including eluding, driving with a suspended license, reckless driving and speeding.
How did they not get her for filing a false report? The cops aren’t usually shy about piling on, and that seems like a pretty obvious and easy one to prove.
