Photo: Telena McCovey
REDDING – On June 10th an officer with the Redding Police Department was patrolling the area of Poppy Hills Drive and Twin View Boulevard. Law enforcement knows this area as a “dumping ground for stolen vehicles.”
The officer saw a car parked in the area with three people inside. The car had been reported stolen, so the officer made contact with its occupants. The two passengers complied with the officer, however the driver sped away after the passengers disembarked.
The driver, 36-year-old Telena McCovey of Redding, drove southbound on I-5, going over 90 m.p.h. , then she got off I-5 south, and back onto I-5 north.
Eventually McCovey exited at Balls Ferry Road and went into a residential neighborhood. She drove into a cul-de-sac and, in her attempt to continue her escape, rammed into a patrol vehicle, which ultimately disabled her car.
It wasn’t over just yet though. McCovey refused to comply and instead rummaged around under her seat and produced a large knife.
A beanbag gun was deployed and broke one of the windows into the vehicle, and the suspect finally surrendered.
After a medical clearance, McCovey was “booked into the Shasta County Jail for two outstanding felony warrants, felony evading, assault with a deadly weapon, vehicle theft, possession of a stole vehicle and brandishing.”
