Mesa County Sheriff’s Deputies Search for Woman Who Led Them on Television-Like Car Chase
Every once in awhile what you see on television cop shows really does happen in real life. In this case, a woman took police on a wild chase around Grand Junction and managed to escape capture.
What started as an attempt at a traffic stop for failure to stop at an intersection near North Avenue and Morning Glory Lane just after midnight on Friday (April 13), by a Mesa County Sheriff's Deputy, turned into a car chase. The woman driving the fleeing vehicle is identified as 42-year-old Elizabeth Tafoya. The car she was driving is a green 1993 Toyota sedan.
Shortly after the first Sheriff's Deputy attempted the traffic stop another Deputy spotted the vehicle driving recklessly near Melody Lane and Texas Avenue. Tafoya also sped away from that attempted stop.
Sheriff's Deputies saw the vehicle several times driving recklessly, at one point driving down the wrong side of the road and trying to hit a patrol vehicle. The Colorado State Patrol joined the chase and attempted to stop Tafoya's car as she was driving on Texas Avenue east of 29 Road.
She eluded Troopers by driving through a chain link fence north of Memorial Gardens Cemetery and hitting a State Patrol car. Law enforcement last saw Tafoya in the area of 28 Road and I-70 Business Loop.
Tafoya is now facing charges of Felony Vehicular Eluding, Aggravated Driving with a revoked driver's license, Habitual Traffic Offender, Attempted Vehicular Assault, Disregarding a Traffic Control Device, Failure to Yield at a stop sign, Criminal Mischief, and Failure to Remain at the Scene of an Accident. If that's not enough, Tafoya also has two active warrants from other cases.
If you have any information that could help law enforcement find and arrest Tafoya, call 911 or make an anonymous report to Crime Stoppers of Mesa County at 970-241-7867. If your information leads to an arrest, you will earn a cash reward of up to $1,000.