A police chase, a woman jumping out of a moving vehicle, a hazmat situation and more. No, it's not an action movie. It's a Thursday afternoon for local law enforcement.
If you thought you saw a car headed down the Crosstown Expressway without a driver, you weren't imagining it: A woman jumped out of a moving vehicle on the freeway around noon in a bizarre chain of events that left three schools on lockdown.
Here's how it started: Police say they had an officer escorting a man who was driving his suicidal daughter to the hospital.
When they made it to the hospital, the father got out of the van and the daughter jumped behind the wheel and took off.
That chase led them to the Crosstown, where the woman bailed out of the van going 30 or 40 mph. It continued on without a driver down a service road until it burst through a fence at the city's gas department before finally coming to a stop at an air conditioning unit. But the story does not end there.
"As a precaution we brought our hazmat team to take air samples to make sure that there was no danger," said Capt. R.L. Polanco of the Corpus Christi Fire Department.
The air conditioning unit released some freon and ammonia into the air. Three CCISD schools went on lockdown until the air was deemed safe.
Even with all of the brushes with disaster, police say it could have easily been a lot worse.
"We're very fortunate that the vehicle did not roll over, or that it did not burst into flames, or collide with somebody else," said CCPD spokesman Tony Acevedo.
The woman is being treated for her injuries at the hospital. She will also be given a psychiatric evaluation, and she will likely be put back on her medication. Police also say the woman will face charges for Thursday's incidents.
