Hicksville Woman Takes Cops on Wild Ride

The 28-year-old driver sprayed the contents of an aerosol can into her mouth before embarking on the destructive drive, police said

A Long Island woman led police on a wild chase as she drove through the streets of Hicksville Thursday evening, at one point spraying a can of aerosol into her own mouth as police tried to stop her, authorities said.

Cops were called to Dean Street after a woman reported a 2002 Ford struck her parked vehicle and left the scene, according to authorities. Officers found the Ford idling nearby with the doors locked and an unresponsive woman behind the wheel.

When the officers tried to get the driver's attention by banging on the windows, she reached for an aerosol can in the vehicle and sprayed its contents into her mouth several times, police said. 

Cops tried to get into the car, but the woman, identified as 28-year-old Catherine Sharkey, reversed the vehicle, hitting another car behind her. She peeled away in drive, nearly hitting the officers.

She continued her wild ride, hitting a curb and stop sign, then a marked police car, which pushed into a second police car. Sharkey drove on, going through several side streets before she hit another police vehicle.

The impact of the crash only briefly put a pause on the destructive journey. Sharkey went on, hitting another police vehicle and sideswiping another before she spun out of control, hitting a utility pole at Broadway and East Barclay Street. 

Sharkey wasn't finished: as a police officer approached her vehicle, she tried to reverse it. The officer was able to break the car window to gain  control of it, cutting his hands and arms in the process, police said. 

The cop removed Sharkey from the car, even as she resisted arrest, flailing her arms, contorting her body and attempting to pull away, police said. 

Three police officers were injured in the police chase, authoriites said. They were taken to area hospitals, where they were treated and released. 

Sharkey was also taken to an area hospital, where she was admitted for a broken ankle and is listed in stable condition. 

Sharkey's vehicle has been impounded. She was charged with second-degree assault, second-degree reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, illegal use of toxic vapors, leaving the scene of an incident with property damage, leaving the scene of an incident with injury, and reckless driving.

She has not yet been arraigned. It wasn't immediately clear if she had an attorney.

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