Woman charged after wild incident in school parking lot in Sudbury

A local woman faces charges after an erratic driving incident at Chelmsford elementary school.

A 33-year-old woman from Chelmsford has been charged with dangerous driving and other offences after Sudbury police responded to a serious altercation in an elementary school parking lot Monday afternoon.

The incident took place just after 2:05 p.m. outside St. Charles Catholic Elementary School on Charlotte Street in Chelmsford in Greater Sudbury, Ont., police said in a news release June 2.

“Information indicated that an individual was operating a vehicle dangerously in the parking lot, driving toward staff members and ultimately striking one staff member,” the release said.

School under a hold-and-secure

“The staff member was not injured. As a precaution, school administration initiated a hold-and-secure to protect students and staff.”

Officers soon arrived and tried to stop the vehicle, but the woman then drove at and hit a police cruiser, according to police.

“Officers were able to contain the vehicle using multiple cruisers,” police said.

“Despite repeated directions to turn off the ignition and exit, the individual refused to comply. An officer then gained control of the situation by smashing the passenger-side window and removing the keys from the ignition.”

Motivation unknown

Police spokesperson Kaitlyn Dunn said in an email that the woman didn’t appear to be intoxicated and wasn’t charged with impaired driving.

“Hopefully, through the court process, the motive/circumstances leading to the incident will become more clear,” Dunn said.

In a news release, the Catholic school board said the incident began when a staff member was bumped by the vehicle “while attempting to signal the driver to slow down.”

“The driver was not known to the school and has no affiliation with the school community,” the release said.

“We are working with Greater Sudbury Police Service to support appropriate measures prohibiting the individual from nearing school property. We are confident that staff acted quickly and in accordance with established safety protocols to protect everyone on site and will continue to do so.”

Charges include two counts of dangerous driving and one count each of failing to remain at the scene of an accident, fleeing police, assaulting police with a weapon, mischief under $5,000, causing a disturbance and stunt driving.

The driver received a 30-day driver’s licence suspension and the vehicle was impounded for 14 days.

She was released on an appearance notice with a court date of Aug. 19 to answer to the charges.

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