Rogue Valley Times file photo

Medford transient Whitney Ann Word, 32, was arrested by Medford police and Jackson County sheriff’s deputies Thursday after eluding law enforcement during a traffic stop and driving up to 60 mph through city streets in an attempt to escape. 

Word is charged with attempting to elude in a vehicle, reckless endangering and reckless driving and was pit maneuvered by a sheriff’s deputy at the intersection of East Barnett Road and Highland Drive in Medford shortly after 1 p.m. 

Word was with passenger William Clifford Sanders — a 51-year-old Medford area transient — who was charged with interfering with a peace officer and resisting arrest. 

At 1:04 p.m. Thursday, a Jackson County sheriff’s deputy observed Word running a stop sign and almost hitting a bicyclist with her car at the intersection of Fir and 10th streets. 

The deputy activated their lights and siren to pull Word over, and she continued to elude law enforcement at slow speeds, continuing to run multiple stop signs, according to the sheriff’s office. 

After receiving permission to perform a Pursuit Intervention Technique maneuver, better known as a pit maneuver, the deputy was unsuccessful, and Word continued down Barnett Road. 

Word sped up to 60 mph at that point, almost colliding with a vehicle at the Barnett Road and Riverside Avenue intersection, a Friday news release said. 

After being successfully pit maneuvered at the East Barnett Road and Highland Drive intersection, deputies arrested Word with the assistance of Medford police.

Word and her passenger, Sanders, were both arrested and lodged in the Jackson County Jail. Word remained in jail on no bail, as of Friday afternoon, while Sanders appeared to have been released and did not appear in jail records.

Word has an extensive criminal history dating back to 2012, ranging from drug-related and resisting arrest charges to numerous trespass, theft and disorderly conduct charges, court records show.
Sanders had multiple charges of robbery, assault, menacing and theft in 1993; misdemeanor unauthorized use of a vehicle in 2005; and a smattering of drug-related and unauthorized use of a vehicle charges between 2009 and 2014, records show.

Sanders amassed additional drug charges in 2018 and 2024, and first-degree theft charges in 2023, according to records.
The case is under further investigation and no additional information is available at this time.