A passenger in an SUV that led law enforcement on a high-speed chase was charged Wednesday for her role in the incident.
Natasha Lynn Duellman, 34, of 255 Seventh Ave. S.E., Rochester, faces felony counts of theft and fifth-degree drug possession, as well as fleeing a peace officer, a misdemeanor.
Police were able to find Duellman after she allegedly fled the scene; her wallet and driver's license were left in the SUV after it crashed.
According to the criminal complaint against her, dispatch received a call from a Walmart employee about 3:40 a.m., reporting two females were leaving the Austin store without paying for electronic equipment, including a 40-inch flat-screen TV and two laptop computers.
After her arrest, Duellman reportedly told investigators that she and Beth Marie Hansen, the driver of the SUV, drove to Austin from Rochester about 2 a.m. Saturday.
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They filled a cart with the electronic equipment, had the most expensive items rung up first, then put them in the shopping cart while the other items were being scanned.
Duellman walked out of the store, she said, and loaded the electronics into the SUV.
Meanwhile, inside the store, Hansen told the clerk she'd forgotten her checkbook in her car. Hansen left the cheaper items at the register, the complaint says, got into the vehicle and drove away.
Officers westbound on Interstate 90 saw the taillights of an SUV that matched the description given by store clerks.
The officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but Hansen refused to stop, the report says, and the chase reached speeds of 110 mph before they were stopped later in a pursuit that involved stop sticks. The two women ran; Hansen was found a short time later, hiding in a grove of trees. Duellman was arrested Monday.
She told investigators she ran because she didn't want to leave her son in the care of people she wouldn't trust.
A search of the SUV turned up clear plastic bags, a digital scale and a broken glass pipe that all reportedly tested positive for methamphetamine. A vial in the vehicle tested positive for cocaine, the complaint says.
