OnStar assists CHP in stopping fleeing SUV with toddler inside

(KRON) — A tense police pursuit in the North Bay came to an end Monday after OnStar, an in-vehicle security service company, assisted the California Highway Patrol by remotely slowing the fleeing SUV to a crawl. The driver held a 2-year-old child as the vehicle reached top speeds of 100 mph on Highway 101, authorities said.

CHP initially responded at 11:39 a.m. to multiple 911 calls reporting that a black Cadillac Escalade was driving erratically on southbound 101 in Petaluma. Witnesses told authorities that the driver was shouting at other motorists and holding a small child.

Once CHP officers located the vehicle, the driver, a woman who was not identified, refused to pull over, according to law enforcement. The chase from Petaluma led into Marin County, where the driver exited into San Rafael before taking northbound 101 back into Sonoma County. In northern Santa Rosa, the vehicle exited and reentered southbound 101.

“Due to the presence of a child in the vehicle, CHP officers began developing plans to safely stop the vehicle without physical intervention,” CHP wrote. “Dispatchers at the CHP’s Golden Gate Communications Center contacted OnStar and advised them of the circumstances, including that there was at least one child in the vehicle.”

The company, using its remote vehicle capabilities, slowed the Escalade in small increments until the vehicle eventually came to a stop just south of Lakeville Road in Petaluma.

Video of the pursuit released by CHP shows the driver getting out of the SUV with a child in her arms and moving closer to the edge of a 40-foot dropoff from the freeway.

“During the negotiations, the woman was momentarily distracted, allowing officers to quickly move in and detain her while rushing the child to safety,” CHP wrote.

The woman was arrested and booked into the Sonoma County Jail for felony charges of child endangerment and evading. Authorities said the 2-year-old child was unharmed and released to family.