A car is engulfed in flames on Rogue River Drive in Eagle Point after Jackson County sheriff's deputies used spikes strips to stop a Shady Cove woman after she led police on a chase after an attempted traffic stop in White City.

Jackson County sheriff’s deputies were forced to think fast when a police chase ended in a fast-spreading car fire in Eagle Point.

The chase began Thursday evening when a deputy on patrol came to a Chevron in White City and spotted Mindy Alizabeth Harrison of Shady Cove, who had six warrants for her arrest, including charges of misdemeanor theft, felony burglary and felony substance possession.

The deputy attempted to pull over Harrison around 10 p.m., but she drove away down Antelope Road toward Table Rock Road. 

When Harrison saw a deputy’s car as she drove toward the intersection of Ironwood Drive and Leafwood Drive in Eagle Point, she quickly turned a corner and ran over a spike strip laid out by Eagle Point police officers, said Aaron Lewis, public information officer for the sheriff’s office. But she wasn’t immediately stopped.

“Even with all four tires flat, you can still drive for a while, and she kept going for about a mile. But when you’re driving like that, you’re losing rubber. You’ve got rims on the pavement,” Lewis said.

By the time Harrison lost control of the vehicle and went off the road into tall grass on Rogue River Drive in Eagle Point, her rims and brakes were hot enough to spark a fire.

A police bodycam video from arresting deputies showed a car off the road in tall grass with officers approaching, guns drawn. As deputies reached the vehicle, flames erupted from underneath. Illuminated by a flashlight on one of the deputies’ shoulders, the woman behind the wheel can be seen with her hands up. As one deputy circled the burning car to the driver’s side door, he reached out for the suspect, but she had already exited the vehicle.

In a fluid motion, the deputy helped Harrison up the hill to the road and handcuffed her while the other deputy aimed a fire extinguisher at the flaming vehicle.

“A situation like this is called a felony stop — deputies come up with guns out, give commands, try to get the suspect to exit the vehicle, go prone on the ground. I was impressed, watching the video, they switched their tactic to be able to keep the suspect safe,” Lewis said.

“With this suspect, we knew she lived in Shady Cove. So we knew what routes she might take, and we had law enforcement vehicles along those routes,” he said.

For a known suspect attempting to elude, sheriffs deputies rarely take the risk of a high-speed chase, Lewis said. Instead, deputies use code 33 to coordinate with dispatch and other law enforcement agencies to catch the suspect without a chase. 

Lewis expressed pride at the arresting deputies’ ability to adapt to the situation’s changing circumstances and the coordination of many facets of law enforcement, especially the often unsung heroes in police dispatch.

“They’re kind of hidden. They’re indoors on the radio or on their computers. But they’re vital to our work on the streets,” he said.

Harrison was lodged in the Jackson County Jail Thursday and charged with attempting to elude police by vehicle, reckless driving and reckless endangering. She was arrested for her outstanding warrants. She remained in jail Friday on $38,000 bail.

Her car was destroyed by the fire and towed from the scene. Eagle Point police and Oregon State Police assisted with the incident and car fire. Fire District 3 helped extinguish the fire, Lewis said.