Guthrie Woman Hits Two Patrol Cars In Slow Speed Chase

A Guthrie woman caught the end of a taser Monday afternoon after leading police on a slow speed chase.

Investigators say Denita Watts, 21, hit two patrol cars in the process, all while she was driving a stolen car.

Logan County Sheriff Damon Devereaux says they got the call about a stolen car from Oklahoma City in their area shortly before noon. It was not long before a pair of Guthrie officers spotted the silver Chevy Malibu.

The two Guthrie officers were in a Chevy Tahoe when they tried to pull over Watts, but she decided to take on the SUV and won.

“The vehicle rams one of their units and then gets onto 33 then gets on the interstate,” Devereaux said.

The officers were not seriously hurt, but their Tahoe was disabled. Soon after, a Logan County deputy caught up with Watts driving southbound along the I-35 shoulder at less than 50 miles per hour.

“The vehicle had a lot of front-end damage, tire was blown out, so she was on a rim when we got her stopped,” Devereaux said.

Before deputies could stop her, Watts rammed one of their Dodge Rams. She hit the deputy as she exited the interstate onto Division, the main road back to Guthrie.

“At that point in time we had several vehicles near the vehicle, because our goal is not to let it get into town,” said Devereaux.  “It’s lunchtime, a heavy traffic area.”

Once surrounded by deputies and state troopers, the sheriff says Watts still would not give up, so a deputy tased her.

“She had opened up the driver’s side door, sat in the vehicle, wouldn’t obey commands,” said Devereaux. “We didn’t know if she had weapons. We didn’t know what.”

Watts was taken to the hospital briefly but is now facing charges of felony eluding and possession of stolen property.

“We don’t know why she was running, or why she was running into our vehicles, but we’ve got her in custody now,” Devereaux said.

Watts is spending at least one night in the Logan County jail. She will appear in court Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. for the local charges, but Oklahoma Highway Patrol is expected to produce additional filings against her for hitting the two patrol cars.