Woman faces 4 felonies after Spanaway assault, chase

A 30-year-old woman faces four felony charges after Pierce County prosecutors say she stole her father’s friend’s truck, hit him with it and then led sheriff’s deputies on a high-speed chase Sunday through Spanaway.

Natasha Marie Flahaut, a transient, is charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree assault, vehicular assault and attempting to elude a police vehicle, as well as third-degree driving with a suspended license.

According to charging documents:

During the middle of the night Saturday, Flahaut’s father’s friend awoke to the sound of his truck starting at a house in the 600 block of 161st Street South in Spanaway.

He went outside to see what was going on and watched Flahaut drive his truck from the alley.

He went in front of the truck to stop her. She tried to swerve, but hit him. He suffered a deep gash to his right forearm and cuts on his left arm that needed stitches.

Flahaut’s father told deputies investigating the theft that his daughter is homeless, addicted to drugs and “is in really bad shape.”

When a sheriff’s deputy saw Flahaut about 2:15 p.m. Sunday, she was going 68 mph in a 25 mph zone in the truck.

The deputy tried to pull her over, but she sped up.

When they reached a dead end, she drove left through a yard, screaming out the window as she made turn. She then blew through a stop sign at 70 mph.

Deputies tried to puncture the truck’s tires. They succeeded, but she drove on.

They tried a maneuver to spin the truck, but it didn’t stop her. They tried again, and this time it worked.

She ran. A deputy tackled her. She fought. They sprayed her with pepper spray. They handcuffed her. She kept kicking.

Deputies said they couldn’t speak to the woman because she was “so out of control.”

This story was originally published October 31, 2016 at 5:42 PM with the headline "Woman faces 4 felonies after Spanaway assault, chase."