On May 10th, 2024, an officer with the Isabella County Sheriff's Office spotted a woman entering a Ford Edge that was reported stolen from a Win Michigan motel earlier that day. The officer had no idea how desperate she would be to avoid arrest, even risking her own life in a daring escape. Vehicle off. Why? Cuz I said, step out. Come on. Out. Out. Stoping me out, please. [Applause] 53 Central. She's running into Soup, turning on to uh Church Street northbound. Clear. We are headed westbound on uh Lantern Road heading through the intersection. [Music] 53 central. We are passing Gilmore Road. Still westbound. Speed 120. 53 central. I do have a positive ID on that female with the face tattoos. Heavy set female coming up to Cold Water Road. Westbound still approaching Cold Water still westbound on Blanchard. Turning northbound on Cold Water. Northbound on Cold Water. Clear northbound on Cold Water from Blanchard. Come on, girl. Get up there. 53. Give me an update. Still heading northbound. Coming up to whatever chipper place this is. That'd be the one passing it right now. Clear. North. just passing Margaret Meadow. Still northbound heading into the curves approaching Deerfield. Speed 90. Picked the wrong depitch. Northbound passing Broomfield there. Northbound passing Brookfield. She just blew 20. Head northbound. Northbound. Clear. Northbound. Delore 20. Eastbound on picker. Eastbound on picker. Clear. Eastbound on picker. Hold water for 3736. Are you able to log into your AVL 53 central passing Littlefield still east passing little field? I know we're a little premature, but maybe see if there's a city unit set up. Go back to home. Pitch ready for the city. Clear. Break central 236. Picker from Littlefield. Can you go up to the west end of city 10, please? They like west end of Pickard before they get into the city with spikes if you get them. 53 central through wind road. I believe we got sticks on her. 53 central. We are passing Vander car. She's starting to slow down. I believe tires are coming up. She's bailing. Going to be bailing. Vehicle still moving. Clear. Bailing. Just past Vandar. She's down. Send me an ambulance. Hands. Hands. Now put your hands up. Do not reach for anything. You're going to stay right there till I got another unit coming here. I got an ambulance in route. Not smart. Hope it was worth it. Watch them. Watch them. Watch them. Watch them. 236. Got gun moving. That's a negative. You can disregard. They've got her stop. She's from the vehicle. Show us your hands. Put your hands up above your head if you can. hands. Put your hands above your head. She might still negative. We got her at gun point. We're handcuffing her right now. Got eyes on that hand. Can you respond to me? Good job. Here. Sit up. I do. Heavy. Yep. She's unconscious. Probably [Applause] severe severe head laceration. I mean, severe blow. 53 central. I believe I advise it is going to be that female. We're going to have a pretty severe facial laceration to the left side of the face. She is breathing, however, not being responsive. We're going to need the road shut down a mile to the east and a mile to the west of our location. That'll work. Rip that open for me. Give me another one. Let me get in here. Say or you got her. Let me get to the side. She breathing. She breathing. Even though you just did that not smart thing, we're here trying to get you some help. So stay with me and talk. You just made a long day a lot longer. Is there anything in that vehicle I need to know about other than the fact it's stolen? We'll clear the vehicle once we get this done. Clear. You are winning. Yeah, that hurts. Let you know you're still alive. You got it. I got the backside. My back's killing me. I'm off. Clear that car. Yeah. Central 3705. [Music] Anybody in the vehicle? In the vehicle. You can hear him. Step out to the left. Buddy, we got a firefighter here. Severe severe head injury, buddy. I haven't been We haven't been able to dress Cspine until right now because of the severe head injury on her. Anybody else in there? Not CJ's clearing it right now. [Music] Hello. You know what her name? I don't. Hey, wake up. Are you holding her up? I'm holding her up. Yes, she's breathing. I can see her breathing. Hey, Ryan, thanks for coming, buddy. Yeah. One of you guys just went flying by my house and I so I turned on my radio to listen trying to get on the radio. Everyone wasing running their jibs. I couldn't tell you that it's good job for going around. Yeah, I saw it coming up. I saw the lights. I figured that's what you were doing. I was getting the hell out of the way. Nope. I got you. We're good. I did almost take the sign out. Huh? She was starting to move on her own a little bit there. Unless you moved her. Can you hear me? [Music] Still breathing. Y CJ, what's her first name? Uh, just one second. I got it. Just amped up a little bit. Give me just a second. [Music] Carol, Carol, we were probably doing roughly still 40 when she bailed out. She's got a pretty good laceration on the left side. She's never lost consciousness. She's breathing, but in and out of responsive. She is tough. How big of a gas do you say she's got? It's probably at least 4 to 5 in long and it's like an inch and a half deep or an inch and a half wide. Take this picture for the morning sun right here. Stupid stupid stupid brakes. Got to love the new Taho. Yeah. Grab that side. Grab that tape. [Music] According to local reporting, Carol Smith was treated at a local hospital and placed under arrest the following day. She was charged with five felonies and one misdemeanor, receiving a stolen vehicle, fleeing a police officer, unlawful driving away, two counts of resisting arrest, and misdemeanor reckless driving. Her bond was set at $15,000 while she awaited trial. In July 2024, she entered a plea deal with the court and plead guilty to resisting arrest and unlawful driving away in exchange for dropping the other three charges. She received a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison at Huron Valley Women's Complex. However, while awaiting trial, she was charged with possession of methamphetamine stemming from an incident in November of 2023 and was given a maximum of 10 years in prison. She is eligible for parole in October 2025, but could remain in prison until June of 2034. Now, I've likely spoke about officer survival during a chase, but what about emotional survival after it ends? Because there's this idea that police work is just about catching criminals, putting the cuffs on, and calling it a day. But real law enforcement is about managing the chaos that every call brings. And this woman actually risked her life, the people on the road, and the officer that was chasing her. But after she hit the stopsticks, gave up, and rolled out of that car, officer had to instantly pivot from catching secure to saving her life. And make no mistake, this does something to an officer's mental because you're absolutely angry, but your training has to take over. That emotional gear shift does happen fast because one moment your finger's near the trigger, and the next is holding pressure on an open wound. And that's the part people rarely get to see because officers might walk away with only a dirty uniform. But in a job where you chase danger one minute and have to save a life the next, it's not just a suspects who walk away with scars. Cuz I've walked away from many dangerous calls. Honestly, I didn't walk away unchanged.