Woman Throws Rubber Snake At Cop To Dodge Arrest For Crashing Into Multiple Cars

A Florida woman allegedly threw a fake, rubber snake at a police officer trying to avoid getting arrested after crashing into other cars on Wednesday.

On Wednesday morning, Dawn LaShawn Laprade of Vero Beach led the police on a high-speed five-mile chase in Indiantown, about 90 miles north of Miami. She assaulted officers and then threw a rubber snake at them, the Martin County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post.

"For reasons we don't completely understand, that driver then slams on her brake, sending the motor unit over to her right. Once he stopped, she intentionally swerved over and tried to hit his bike," said Martin County Sheriff William Snyder."He actually had jump off to not get hit."

Laprade then sped off again and tried to hit three police vehicles. She then crashed into a civilian car that flipped and injured three people; the names of the three injured people have not been released. They suffered non-life-threatening injuries, and all are expected to recover soon.

When Laprade was stopped and surrounded by officers, the woman did not give in easily, "She came out of the vehicle and instead of surrendering, she threw what looked like a real snake at our deputy," Snyder said. "Fortunately for her, instead of re-engaging with a firearm, he goes for a taser and ends it right there," Snyder said. "If she had thrown that snake when the gun was out, we may be talking about a police officer-involved shooting right now."

Laprade, 54, reached speeds of 80 to 100 mph in her pickup truck. She was charged with four counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, along with fleeing arrest. The Martin County Sheriff's Office said more charges could be added. She was booked into jail and held on a $90,000 bond.

Meanwhile, the officers whom the woman tried to hit were fortunately not injured. "I think one of the takeaways from this whole thing," Snyder said. "Is that there's nothing routine about a routine traffic stop," she claimed that it is still not clear why she ran from the police in the first place.