SILVERTON, OR (KPTV) -
A dangerous police chase between Silverton and Salem ended when a woman was hit with a Taser and bean bag rounds.
A 911 caller reported a van driving recklessly on Silverton Road NE near Howell Prairie Road at 10:45 a.m.
A Silverton police officer spotted the van about 10 minutes later and attempted to stop it, but the driver kept going.
The officer said the van nearly hit other cars approaching from the opposite direction on Silverton Road.
Deputies put down spike strips near Lardon Road NE that flattened all four tires on the van.
Shortly after 11 a.m., the van stopped at 48th and Silverton Road. Deputies said the driver, Stephanie Omnik, 33, of Salem, refused their commands to get out of the vehicle.
Instead, they said, she climbed into the back and turned up the music.
After 20 minutes, she suddenly returned to the driver's seat. Deputies said she pointed her hand at them, simulating she had a weapon.
She then drove off on flat tires and bare rims.
Deputies said Omnik drove into the Salem RV Park at 4490 Silverton Rd. NE at speeds that posed a threat to anyone in the park.
A deputy used his patrol car to pin the van against a storage building.
Omnik still refused to surrender, according to investigators, before she opened the door and threw a box cutter knife at deputies.
At that point, deputies deployed a Taser and three less-lethal bean bag rounds at her.
Omnik was taken to the hospital and then arrested. She faces charges of felony elude, reckless driving, reckless endangerment and assault.
Deputies said she admitted hoping they would shoot her when she threw the knife.
Omnik was cited and released and placed under a 72-hour mental health evaluation.
No other cars or people were hurt during the chaotic chase, which covered nine miles and lasted almost an hour.
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