The woman who led police on a chaotic, dangerous high-speed chase through West Los Angeles that left her crashing into cars while driving the wrong way on the 405 Freeway is facing 16 charges that the District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday .
Lisa Ann Heflin, 41, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to the charges, including 10 counts of assault on a peace officer.
Los Angeles Police Department officers first encountered Heflin on Friday, May 17, when they responded to a disturbance call at 4:30 a.m. at Rose and Fourth Avenues in Venice.
When officers approached her, she reportedly got into her van and drove away, crashing into a police vehicle as she drove.
She kept doing that leads police on a 30-minute chase through Venice, Santa Monica and West Los Angeles before heading north onto the 405 Freeway. During her high-speed chase, it appeared she deliberately drove her van into LAPD vehicles.
Police tried to stop her using various PIT maneuvers, but Heflin continued driving, going in circles and going the wrong way on the highway, with smoke billowing from the hood of the van.
The chase ended when Heflin drove into oncoming traffic, hitting three drivers before climbing onto the roof of her van and jumping onto the hood of a semi-truck.
The truck driver said Heflin said, “Open the door, open the door, I need help!”
According to the LAPD, five officers were injured during the chaos, two of whom were hospitalized before being treated and released.
