A California woman is facing criminal charges after allegedly striking a 72-year-old pedestrian with her car, then forcing the victim into the vehicle and leading police on a high-speed chase.
Alexis Lewis, 26, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to kidnapping, evading an officer and three counts of child endangerment for allegedly leaving her three young children home alone at the time of the crash, according to NBC Los Angeles.
One witness reported seeing the driver drag the screaming injured woman into the passenger seat Monday morning, then also put the victim's fallen shoes in the car before driving off, Hawthorne police told NBC.
Officers were unable apprehend the woman at the wheel — who was running red lights and driving at upwards of 80 mph — until she finally stopped in front of her home in Hawthorne, the station reported.
There, officers arrested Lewis and determined that her children — ages 2, 3 and 4 – were in the house unsupervised, police told the station.
Authorities did not know what the driver planned to do with the victim, who remains in the hospital from injuries sustained in the incident, NBC reported.
Lewis is due back in court on May 21.
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