When she was stopped at Hamilton Marketplace, several officers got out of their cars and tried to take Harris into custody, police said. Harris allegedly rolled down her window and used pepper spray against them.
Hamilton Marketplace on Route 130 in Hamilton is shown in a file photo. A woman who led Bordentown Township police on a chase this morning allegedly used pepper spray on cops as the pursuit passed nearby.
BORDENTOWN TOWNSHIP – A Ewing woman allegedly led police on a chase across county lines this morning after she backed into a police car, brushed against an officer with her vehicle, and used pepper spray against officers who tried to stop her on Route 130.
Jeannine Harris, 50, finally pulled over in Allentown, Monmouth County, where she was arrested.
The pursuit began at an Econo Lodge on Route 206 in Bordentown Township after Harris had overstayed past the date she paid for a room, Capt. Norman Hand said. She refused to leave and the motel management called police.
Hand and another officer found Harris in her car, he said. Hand pulled up alongside her and the sergeant he was with put his car slightly behind Harris’ vehicle. As they told her to wait and talk to them, Harris allegedly started her vehicle.
“With that, she puts it in reverse and backs into the patrol car,” Hand said.
The sergeant was not injured. Hand ran to the driver’s side of Harris' car and opened the door, he said.
“With that, she cuts the wheel left, hits the gas, the door closes and brushes against me, she skims a telephone pole and drives out of the parking lot,” he said.
The officers began chasing Harris north onto Route 130 and into Hamilton, Hand said. When they reached traffic backed-up traffic near red lights at Hamilton Marketplace, several officers got out of their cars and tried to take Harris into custody. Harris then allegedly rolled down her window and used pepper spray against them.
“We could see the spray coming. We could see the mist,” Hand said.
Only one officer was caught in the spray. Hand used his own pepper spray against Harris, leading her to close the window. She then drove into the shoulder, around stopped cars, through the red light and back up Route 130, he said.
Harris drove onto Route 526 in Robbinsville and finally pulled over in Allentown. She was arrested and charged with eluding, resisting arrest, hindering, aggravated assault on police officers and motor vehicle offenses.
Hand said it remains unclear why Harris was so determined to flee.
“I honestly don’t know what set her off,” he said.