Woman gets 5 years for 100-mph pursuit, attack

A 32-year-old woman has been sentenced to five years in prison for leading Orange County deputy sheriffs on a pursuit last year that reached speeds of 100 mph on busy, rain-slicked roads across Central Florida.

Shawna L. Schaefer also rammed her vehicle into a deputy’s cruiser at the start of her 20-minute crime spree on Sept. 22, 2014, records say.

After crashing, Schaefer apologized for fleeing and hitting the cruiser. Schaefer’s license was suspended and she “got nervous” when a deputy tried to pull her over for not wearing a seat belt, her arrest report said. She thought she could outrun the deputy, the report said.

“I’ve outrun a bunch of cops before,” Schaefer said, according to the report. “This is the first time I’ve ever been caught. It was stupid.”

She blew through red lights, swerved into oncoming traffic and ignored a deputy’s flashing lights and blaring sirens. At one point, her Honda went airborne after hitting four speed bumps and landed hard, creating sparks on impact. No one was hurt. The pursuit spanned roughly 25 miles.

She eventually crashed into a wall for a neighborhood off North Mira Drive in east Orange.

“Schaefer showed no regard for public safety and put many lives in danger,” Deputy Richard Nye wrote in his arrest report. At the time, a Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman said deputies kept at a safe distance and the car was mostly tracked via the agency’s helicopter.

Schaefer pleaded no contest to charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, fleeing law officers at a high rate of speed and driving with a suspended license.

Circuit Court Judge Marc L. Lubet sentenced Schaefer on Friday to five years, though she won’t serve all of that. She was given credit for three days she previously spent in jail.

kconnolly@tribpub.com