Second-year English student currently held at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, awaiting bond hearing
A USC student has been charged with reckless driving, resisting arrest and simple assault, according to Jennifer Timmons, Columbia Police Department spokeswoman.
Brittany Fortuna, a second-year English student, was arrested Thursday morning after she refused to pull over for police, leading to a police chase, on her way to class. She is currently being held at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.
Fortuna was traveling south on Bull Street around 9 a.m. when she ran a red light, Timmons said. A police officer pulled her over and asked for her driver’s license, to which she replied she didn’t have one. Fortuna also told the officer she was late for class.
When the officer asked Fortuna to step out of the car, she allegedly refused. The officer called for additional backup, and Fortuna sped off.
She drove to the intersection of Bull and Hampton streets, entered and exited a parking lot and then turned her car left on Hampton Street. A second police officer arrived, and Fortuna was pulled over at 1401 Hampton St., according to Timmons.
Fortuna’s car was between the original officer and the backup officer’s vehicle, but Fortuna allegedly refused to get out of the vehicle and sped off a second time, sideswiping one of the patrol cars, which Timmons said was scraped but not seriously damaged. Fortuna also hit the knee of the second police officer, causing minor injuries, though the officer did not need to seek medical attention, Timmons said.
When she sped away from 1401 Hampton, Fortuna made it to a red light at the intersection of Hampton and Marion streets but did not proceed through it, and, at that point, more officers arrived on the scene, Timmons said.
Fortuna barricaded herself in the vehicle by locking the doors and refusing to get out. The officers broke the driver’s side window, turned off the engine of Fortuna’s car and took her keys so there was no threat of her driving off.
Timmons said Fortuna was combative as officers handcuffed and put her in the back of the patrol car.
Fortuna’s bond hearing is set for 9 a.m. Friday.