Woman Arrested For DUI Steals Police Patrol Car While Still In Handcuffs

A woman in Tennessee who was arrested for driving under influence (DUI) reportedly stole a police patrol car while she was still under handcuffs. The 27-year-old woman then sent deputies on a dramatic car chase that ended in a crash into another patrol vehicle, police said.

Jennifer Cunningham, from White Bluff, was taken into custody early Tuesday morning after she was found driving a car with a taillight out, KKTV reported.

When police officers initially tried to stop her vehicle, Cunningham refused to pull over. "Cunningham turned around, took out a mailbox, and took out her tire in the process," Jennifer Caruthers from Dickson County Sheriff’s Office said.

After a brief chase, the deputies took Cunningham into custody for DUI and other charges. She was then handcuffed and placed in the back of a patrol car.

However, Cunningham did not stay there for long. She managed to get her handcuffed wrists from behind to the front and slid herself to the front seat through a small window in a glass partition.

"My first reaction was how did she fit through the partitions so easily. I mean, that window is pretty small," Caruthers said, as reported by WKRN.

Cunningham then drove off the police car before crashing the vehicle into another deputy’s cruiser. "Had the other vehicle not been sitting there, she could have easily hit one of our deputies. I don’t think we’ve ever had a case like this before," Caruthers said.

Cunningham was eventually taken into custody by the law enforcement officials after a chase for around six miles. In addition to the charges of DUI, she now faces more than 20 charges including, felony theft, vandalism of government property, felony evading, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment with a weapon and tampering with evidence.

"Hopefully, this will be a final lesson learned for this young lady. She’s got a lot of life ahead of her if she can get her life together and learn from this incident," Caruthers said.

A court has set her bond at $166,000 and scheduled an initial hearing for May 17.