A woman is in the Weld County Jail after police say she stole another woman’s car — throwing her out of her own vehicle — before driving more than 50 mph over the speed limit and leading police on a chase through an elementary school playground earlier this month.
Police arrested 40-year-old Heather Wallace July 13 in Nunn after a short pursuit that began in Pierce, according to an affidavit for her arrest. Police say she had stolen the vehicle less than 30 minutes earlier in north Greeley.
Wallace faces felony charges for second-degree motor vehicle theft, robbery and vehicular eluding, as well as five misdemeanor charges from the incidents, according to court records.
An Ault police officer saw a white sedan going 93 mph in a 45-mph-zone as he was patrolling around 4:15 p.m. July 13 at U.S. 85 and Park Avenue in Pierce, according to the affidavit. Pierce doesn’t have a police department, so Ault police patrol both communities.
Police say the sedan passed the officer while the driver was making a left turn onto Park Avenue. The officer turned on his lights and tried to pull the driver over. The driver didn’t stop, instead driving through a gap in a fence leading into the Highland Elementary School playground, according to the affidavit. The driver drove on a sidewalk parallel to the playground before exiting the playground and continuing north on U.S. 85, police say.
Police say the driver drove north in the southbound lane out of Pierce, eventually crashing into a field in the 400 block of Fifth Street in Nunn.
Police took Wallace into custody after the crash. They found that her license had been revoked as a habitual traffic offender, and they say she had a bubble pipe with residue in the center console that tested presumptive positive for methamphetamine.
When Wallace crashed into the field, police say she caused roughly $500 in damage to a topper for an early-2000’s Chevy truck. She also caused more than $1,000 of damage to the sedan, according to a separate affidavit.
Roughly 15 minutes before, Greeley police had been dispatched to the 1100 block of M Street on a report of a stolen vehicle.
A woman told police she was smoking a cigarette in the driver seat of her car while parked outside her work on a break.
She said a white woman “caked in makeup” with long brown hair, wearing a pink shirt — later identified as Wallace —walked up and tried to open the passenger door, according to the affidavit.
The woman rolled down the window to speak with Wallace, who police say took the opportunity to reach in the vehicle and unlock the door. Wallace then got in the car and told the victim to drive, according to the affidavit.
The victim refused to drive, and told police she tried to de-escalate the situation before Wallace climbed over the center console and sat on the victim’s lap, putting the sedan into reverse and hitting the gas.
The victim couldn’t remember whether she or Wallace opened the door, but Wallace pushed the victim out of the vehicle as she was backing up, according to the affidavit. The victim told police she believed Wallace had dragged her with the vehicle, but said she got up as quickly as she could to avoid being run over.
Police say the victim had bruising on her left arm and pain in both her back and side.
An employee of a neighboring business told police that Wallace had been walking through the parking lot trying door handles and looking into vehicles, according to the affidavit.
By the time those police called in the stolen vehicle, Ault police were already in pursuit of Wallace.
Wallace was booked into the Weld County Jail. She has a disposition hearing in both cases on Aug. 19 in Weld District Court.