Drugs found on woman after car chase

By Matt Elofson

Published: December 8, 2008

A Florida woman faces a felony drug charge after she led Houston County Sheriff’s deputies on a chase Sunday night on U.S. 231.

Houston County Sheriff’s Capt. Antonio Gonzalez said deputies charged Fondrica Lashonda Jones, 22, of Tallahassee, Fla., with felony possession of cocaine after an area hospital employee discovered the drugs. Gonzalez said a small bag of cocaine was found after Jones asked to use the restroom at Southeast Alabama Medical Center.

Gonzalez said Jones was taken to SAMC for the possibility of ingestion of narcotics, and deputies found a small bag of cocaine on her body. No deputies or Jones were injured during her arrest.

The arrest stemmed from the report of a motorist who failed to comply with an attempted traffic stop in Jackson County, Fla. Deputies eventually arrested Jones and charged her with unlawful possession of a controlled substance, misdemeanor second-degree possession of marijuana, reckless endangerment and attempting to elude.

She was taken to the Houston County Jail and held on a $33,000 bond.

Gonzalez said speeds reached 70 mph during the chase, even after the woman continued to drive with three of her tires deflated when deputies used spike sticks in an attempt to stop the vehicle. She was arrested after a deputy bumped her vehicle during a precision immobilization technique (PIT), causing it to go off the roadway near the intersection of U.S. 231 South and Alabama Highway 109.