Police in Florida said a woman stole a sheriff’s deputy’s SUV Friday and led authorities on a high-speed chase that ended in a wrong-way crash that killed herself and two others.
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said Kendra Dalyn Boone, 33, as well as a man and a woman in their 70s from South Carolina, were killed Thursday when Boone swerved into oncoming traffic while fleeing police.
Authorities said the incident started when a deputy responded to a report about a woman trying to steal another woman’s car keys.
The deputy’s body camera footage showed Boone come up to his passenger side window after he arrived on the scene. The deputy got out of the SUV and told Boone to go to the back of the vehicle.
As he walked to the rear of his car, Boone hopped into the driver’s seat. The footage showed the deputy trying to pull Boone from the SUV, but she was able to speed off with the police vehicle.
Police said deputies followed Boone for several miles and tried to end the chase with stop sticks, but the accused thief avoided the law while driving at speeds of over 100 mph.
Authorities said Boone at one point briefly went off-road to avoid a semitractor-trailer. She lost control of the SUV once she got back on the pavement and crashed head-on into a vehicle.
Earl Middleton, 73, and a 72-year-old woman who wasn’t identified were killed in the collision. Earl’s brother, Russell Middleton, 74, was hospitalized in critical condition.
Sheriff Woods, who called Boone a “moron” twice during a Friday press conference, said the woman had been arrested over 20 times and had convictions for grand theft, car theft and attempted robbery.