OTTAWA COUNTY, Ohio — A Michigan woman led law enforcement on a high-speed chase, while she had her child in the car, Sunday through multiple counties and now faces multiple charges including operating a vehicle under the influence, assault and endangering children.
The first call to the police was made at 6:59 p.m. on Sunday when the caller said 29-year-old Heidi Schmidt's driving was concerning. In the 911 call, the caller describes seeing the Schmidt swerve off-road and into traffic more than seven times before he decided to report it.
The six charges Schmidt faces are:
- failure to comply
- assault
- endangering children
- operating a vehicle under the influence
- driving with an expired license
- reckless operation
Schmidt is being held on a bond of $212,030. She is due back in court Wednesday.
Aaron Leist, the captain of operations at the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office, said the pursuit began when Schmidt failed to pull over for a traffic stop.
"The traffic stop never happened. She failed to pull over from the beginning," Leist said. "Eventually that pursuit went in and out of Ottawa County, the Oak Harbor area, into the edge of Port Clinton, up [state Route 53], south into Sandusky County and eventually into Fremont."
Once Schmidt pulled into a hotel parking lot, deputies decided the pursuit had to end there, so her vehicle was hit by two different law enforcement vehicles. She then exited the vehicle and law enforcement went to arrest her, only for Schmidt to say she wasn't alone in her vehicle, pointing toward her juvenile son in the backseat.
Leist said deputies did not know a child was inside the vehicle during the pursuit. But, he said the pursuit needed to end regardless, for the child's safety.
"We needed to end that pursuit, even if the kid was in the car, for the safety of that child as well," Leist said. "She had gone off the roadways several times. It was very reckless, very reckless."
Leist also said alcohol was found in the vehicle.