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Ashland woman, 75, told police she eluded them out of fear By Mail Tribune staff Updated: Nov 07, 2022 03:07 PM A A A 75-year-old Ashland woman accused of engaging police in a car chase at triple-digit speeds allegedly told police she did so because she was afraid of getting arrested. Elizabeth Katherine Essex, 75, made her initial appearance Monday in Jackson County Circuit Court on a felony charge of attempting to elude police in a vehicle and a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving accusing her of leading police on a high-speed pursuit along Interstate 5 that allegedly lasted for more than 40 miles from Grants Pass to Ashland — even after multiple rounds of spike strips took out her tires in Jackson County, according to court filings and an earlier news report. Police spun out her vehicle near the south Ashland exit on I-5 using a pursuit intervention technique, better known as a PIT maneuver. “At no point did the vehicle attempt to stop or yield for police officers,” an affidavit filed by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office states. When police took Essex into custody after the crash, she allegedly told Jackson and Josephine County sheriff’s deputies she’d been going 104 mph “and she did not want to get arrested because she did not trust law enforcement,” according to an affidavit filed by the sheriff’s office. “Elizabeth said she decided to continue and not pull over because she was scared,” the police affidavit further states. At Essex’s initial court appearance, Circuit Court Judge Tim Barnack appointed her a public defender and scheduled another hearing for Nov. 14. Essex remained an inmate in the Jackson County Jail as of Monday afternoon.