What started off as a shoplifting incident on Tuesday quickly escalated to an assault, a brief car chase, a crash and a man trying to barricade himself in a Dunkin shop’s bathroom, authorities said.
Police arrested Courtney Mary Schneider, 32, of Quincy, after the incident, which began at 3:27 PM, police spokeswoman Lieutenant Cara Rossi said.
A second suspect, a man, will be summonsed to court because he was hospitalized after the incident. A third man remains unidentified, the lieutenant said.
Police headed toward Macys at the Natick Mall after two men who were confronted by store security about shoplifting assaulted a store security guard and ran off. Witnesses said the pair got into a blue Honda Civic with black bumpers.
An officer on the Rte. 27 ramp to Rte. 9 saw the car and attempted to pull it over. But the car didn’t stop.
“Because it was in the middle of the snowstorm, the sergeant immediately called off the pursuit,” Rossi said.
The Honda continued into Wellesley, where it lost control and struck a utility pole on Grove Street and then got stuck in a snowbank. Natick officers, who were following from a distance, came upon the crash, and Schneider, who was driving, and the two men all ran away.
Police quickly caught Schneider and took her into custody.
A Wellesley police officer assisting Natick chased one of the men into a Dunkin store on Rte. 9. The man tried to lock himself in the bathroom, but after several minutes, he gave up and began smoking crack before police took him into custody, police said.
Police later took him to a local hospital. The third man got away, Rossi said.
Police charged Schneider with failing to stop for police; leaving the scene of an accident; driving to endanger; and driving with a suspended license (subsequent offense). Police also cited her for speeding… Metro-West Daily News