Gainesville Police arrested a woman accused of endangering the lives of two children while fleeing from police after stealing from a store Monday afternoon.
Cavetta Corbett was charged with two counts of child abuse, using a foil-lined shopping bag to avoid store’s anti-shoplifting technology and attempting to flee from police officers. She was also given three citations for being in an accident that caused damage to a vehicle and/or property while leaving a scene.
On Monday around 2:30 p.m., a GPD officer was notified by a Belks Loss Prevention Officer at the Oaks Mall about a theft in-progress, according to the report. The prevention officer said the suspect was in the parking lot and getting into their car.
As Corbett was backing out of her parking space, the GPD officer and an Oaks Mall security vehicle were driving down opposite ends of the same lane that the suspect was backing into, according to the report.
Corbett drove her car toward the oncoming GPD patrol car, according to the report. The officer put her car in park and was about to exit it when Corbett threw her hands in the air, looked directly at the officer and then put her car in reverse.
Corbett drove in the opposite direction with her front passenger door still open, according to the report. The officer drove toward the suspect and tried to initiate a traffic stop, but Corbett ignored the lights and sirens and went around the Oaks Mall security vehicle.
The GPD officer could see that an adult was seated in the front passenger seat with the door open and was holding onto a red stroller, which held one of the victims, according to the report. Corbett was driving so erratically that she hit three vehicles. During one of the crashes, the front passenger door was hit and received substantial damage.
It was noted in the report one of the children and the adult front seat passenger were in serious danger of being thrown from from the vehicle and injured by Corbett’s dangerous driving.
Corbett continued to flee through the mall parking lot by going down travel lanes, weaving in and out of lanes and driving erratically, according to the report. Another GPD patrol car joined the pursuit to stop Corbett.
While trying to flee from law enforcement officers, Corbett blindly cut between parked cars and drove into the path of the second patrol car, according to the report. The crash between them caused Corbett’s car to stop. She quickly got out of her car but was immediately detained by a law enforcement officer.
The suspect’s car was occupied by two young children and an adult passenger, according to the report. They were visibly shaken and upset.
An officer wrote in the report that the suspect’s driving endangered the safety of the vehicle passengers, the pedestrians and vehicle traffic in the parking lot and law enforcement officers.
While fleeing, a witness saw the suspect throw a bag out of the driver side window, according to the report. It was a foiled-lined Dillard’s shopping bag made to hide stolen merchandise from anti-theft measures in stores.
The on-scene investigation determined that the stolen clothing items were from American Eagle Outfitters. American Eagle Outfitters did not wish to prosecute.
Corbett was released from the Alachua County Jail on Tuesday night after posting bail.
Follow Devoun on Twitter @devoun_cetoute and contact him at dcetoute@alligator.org.
