Woman crashes car during police chase

A young female driver was arrested on Sunday following a police chase that ended up in a crash of a stolen vehicle in downtown Paphos.

According to police, a 20-year-old woman refused to stop after being flagged by a motorcycle officer around noon Sunday in Paphos. The suspect was driving on Georgiou Christoforou Street around 11:40am.

After the woman failed to stop, she increased her speed in an attempt to get away according to an official police report. The motorcycle officer then chased the vehicle, until the car slammed into steel poles on Ihsan Ali street.

The car driver was taken to the Emergency Room at Paphos General Hospital and was later released, while the officer was not injured during the incident.

Knews learned that the suspect, described as a Greek Cypriot female, was not randomly flagged down, with police sources saying she was recognized as a person known to law enforcement authorities.

The car was also later reported as stolen by the car owner who called the police shortly after the crash, around 12:15pm. He said his vehicle was parked on the side of a city road between 10:30am and 11:10am.

Police placed the woman under arrest later in the afternoon. She was also administered a drug test with preliminary results reportedly coming back positive. The driver also received a number of traffic citations, including not wearing a seatbelt and driving without a driver’s permit or car insurance. She was also charged with minor misdemeanours including reckless endangerment.