OCEAN CITY — A West Virginia woman was arrested on driving while impaired by drugs and numerous traffic violations last weekend after a high-speed chase through Ocean City and across the Route 50 Bridge before ending in West Ocean City.
Around 10 p.m. last Friday, an OCPD officer was conducting a traffic stop in the area of 127th Street when he was approached by a citizen. The citizen told the officer a blue Toyota Corolla with West Virginia tags had been driving on the sidewalk for six or seven blocks and had just run two cars off the road. The officer dismissed the driver he had stopped and began to pursue the blue Toyota Corolla.
The officer located the vehicle traveling north on Coastal Highway at 146th Street. The vehicle crossed into Delaware and turned around and came back into Ocean City. The officer followed the vehicle until it turned into the 7-Eleven convenience store on 139th Street. The officer approached the driver, later identified as Brandie Deano, 35, of Charlestown, W.Va., According to police reports, Deano told the officer, “I know my [expletive deleted] rights and I don’t have to talk to you.”
According to police reports, Deano had glassy, bloodshot eyes and an odor of marijuana was coming from the vehicle. Deano then fell into the driver’s seat, started the car and sped off again.
Deano allegedly ran the red light at 139th Street and headed south on Coastal Highway reaching a speed of 112 mph. The officer continued to chase Deano, who nearly collided with a vehicle making a U-turn at 130th Street. Deano was still driving at 112 mph when she went through the 94th Street intersection. At 65th Street, Deano turned off her headlights in an apparent attempt to avoid detection when another officer tried to deploy stop sticks to end the chase.
According to police reports, the chase continued and nearly resulted in several collisions. Deano’s vehicle was clocked going 100 mph at 17th Street and 112 mph again at 8th Street. At 1st Street, Deano ran through a red light and drove across the bridge.
Finally, with the assistance of the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, the vehicle was stopped in West Ocean City. According to police reports, Deano did not want to get out of the vehicle but eventually did and was transported to the Public Safety Building.
During processing, Deano agreed to submit to a breath test, which resulted in a reading of .00. Deano was then tested by a drug recognition expert, who concluded she was impaired by marijuana and was unable to operate a vehicle safely. Deano was also charged with more than a dozen traffic violations.
