By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A 48-year-old Morton woman was arrested for robbery after a confrontation when she was caught allegedly stealing toys from a neighbor’s front yard, but not before a low-speed pursuit involving three law enforcement agencies that ended with her car in a ditch.
Deputies called about 9:50 a.m. to the 700 block of Davis Lake Road were told Julie A. Erickson pulled into her neighbor’s driveway and began loading the items into her vehicle, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
When the woman who lives there and her friend asked Erickson what she was doing and pulled a tricycle from the trunk, Erickson allegedly shoved one of them and punched the other in the face, according to the sheriff’s office.
Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said Erickson tried slapping her several times before the woman could get away
Brown said Erickson then got into her car and drove off with a wagon and unspecified other children’s toys.
Law enforcement spotted her vehicle fairly quickly but Erickson wouldn’t pull over, continuing for several miles along state Route 508, Brown states in a news release.
A spike strip set up at Cinebar Road punctured one of her tires, but Erickson continued to drive on its rim until finally stopping in a ditch near Centralia-Alpha Road, according to Brown.
Brown states Erickson spoke nonsensically and had no explanation for her behavior or the theft. They don’t believe alcohol was a factor, according to Brown.
Erickson was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for second-degree robbery and attempting to elude.