Michelle Elaine Steele of Warren, Michigan led police on a long chase through Detroit and Gross Pointe that involved collisions with a home and a police vehicle, and the only thing higher than the speeds involved was apparently Steele herself with police reporting that she had been inhaling chemicals which they found in the stolen jeep she was driving. The 42-year-old is reported to have stolen the Jeep and struck a house around 5 PM on November 4th. When police located the vehicle and Steele, she fled at high speed. She raced the SUV south on I-75 striking a Warren Police Cruiser according to The Detroit News
The driver continued to Detroit and Grosse Pointe Park, “swerving at patrol cars, speeding down residential streets, driving on sidewalks, and disregarding red lights and stop signs,” police reported. They further reported that Grosse Pointe Park police finally ended the pursuit by deploying stop-sticks which disabled the vehicle.
Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer told the press in a statement
“This was a moderate speed pursuit of a habitual offender whose actions unquestionably endangered the lives of Warren residents as well as the residents of several other communities,”
Steele was arraigned after arrest on receiving and concealment of stolen property; fleeing in the second degree and eluding; malicious destruction of a building; malicious destruction of police property; assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer, and driving with a suspended license. Ms. Steele’s bond has been set at $100,000 and she must wear a GPS tether if released… comically, she was already wearing one at the time she committed her crime on November 4th.
A Rap sheet As Long As The Chase
As mentioned, Steele already had a GPS tether on for a previous court appearance. When the Police Commissioner said, “habitual offender” he wasn’t kidding either. When Fox2 News spoke to him they asked: “Given this woman’s criminal history, are you surprised that she ended up in a situation like this?”
Dwyer answered, “No, I’m not surprised because she is habitual,”
“She’ll continue to do this unless something is done. What she needs is, she needs to be jailed. She needs to wake up. She needs help. The first thing we do is get her off the streets so she doesn’t kill someone or seriously injure someone.”
“She was at a high speed at certain times. going over sidewalks, going through barricades. obviously, if she would not have been arrested, she would have seriously injured or killed someone,”
Dwyer informed the media that her past convictions include FIVE FELONIES such as: “operating while intoxicated, fleeing and eluding police, disorderly conduct, and resisting police.” The chase concluded with no injuries and Steele was arrested with no further incident.
