JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A mother, believed to be intoxicated, was arrested Tuesday after leading police on a short chase with a 5-month-old child unsecured in the back seat.
On Tuesday evening, a Jacksonville Sheriff's Officer attempted a traffic stop at Casset Avenue and Blanding Boulevard. The driver refused to stop and a chase ensued.
The suspect vehicle swerved in and out of lanes of traffic reaching 58 mph in a 40 mph speed zone on Timuquana Road. An officer pulled alongside the suspect vehicle to prevent the driver from entering oncoming traffic. The suspect swerved the vehicle into the patrol car, clipping the front bumper.
When officers were able to stop the vehicle, the suspect slammed her car door into the patrol car's bumper several times.
The driver was identified as 32-year-old Roxsann Hathaway. According to police on scene, Hathaway was violent and hit an officer several time in the chest with her fist.
After Hathaway was taken into custody and secured in a patrol car, officers found a
5-month-old in the back seat of the suspect
's vehicle.
Hathaway told police that she fled because there was a warrant for her arrest in Nassau County.
According to the report, she also told police she
was drinking vodka before the chase.
Rescue units transported Hathaway and the child to UF & Shands to be checked out.
Hathaway is currently in the Duval County Jail and has been charged with Child Neglect, Aggravated Assault on an Officer, Battery on an Officer, Driving Under the Influence, Driving with a Suspended License, Failure to Drive in a Single Lane, Failure to Obey a Traffic Control Device, Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road and Speeding.
