FERGUS FALLS, Minn. -- Police say a 28-year-old -- with her 13-year-old along for the ride -- stole an SUV from a dealership in Fergus Falls then led officers on a 100-mph chase.
Latoya Wilson, of Camden, Tenn., and her daughter have been named responsible for Monday’s high speed chase at College Way Auto involving a 2012 Chevy Traverse.
According to the Fergus Falls Police Department, Wilson was arrested and is being held in the Otter Tail County jail for motor vehicle theft and fleeing in a motor vehicle. The daughter was not charged and is being held in foster care. Police said they did not have a motive for the crime.
The two got to College Way Auto via a city cab at 7:50 a.m., according to owner Larry Peasley.
“They said they wanted to test drive the vehicle,” he said. “They didn’t ask a lot of questions, and that made me nervous.”
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Because he had suspicions about the women’s motives, Peasley had one of his sales representatives ride along when they went on a test drive.
When they returned to College Way Auto, the women took off with the vehicle after the sales representative had exited it.
“They just tore off out of here,” Peasley said. “We tried to take precautions because we weren’t sure it was a legit situation. We left them for a second and they took off.”
According to Tennessee court documents, Wilson was sentenced to 34 months in prison in 2008 for accomplicing an armed robbery of Regions Bank in Martin, Tenn.
The Fergus Falls Police Department, Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota State Patrol were involved in the pursuit, which initially went west on Interstate 94 before coming back east and onto State Highway 210, where they were finally stopped and arrested.
