Holly Marie Craig, 31, injured in a crash following a high-speed pursuit through Sweet Home on Jan. 13, thus far has been cited for driving under the influence of intoxicants, operation of an unsafe vehicle – a violation, and attempting to elude police, according to Sheriff’s reports.
A little after midnight on Jan. 13, Craig’s vehicle left the roadway near the weigh station on Highway 20 just east of Sweet Home, flipped and caught fire, pinning her beneath the vehicle.
The rollover followed a pursuit through Sweet Home on Highway 20 that reached speeds of 70-80 mph through town and over 100 mph on Highway 20, according to a statement from the County Sheriff’s Office.
According to Sheriff Bruce Riley, Deputy Matt Bostrom was on his way to do a security check at an address along Highway 20 near Liberty Road when he spotted a 2005 Cadillac Escalade traveling east with its lights off. Bostrom turned around to follow the vehicle and saw it parked on the side of the highway, blocking a residential driveway, Riley said.
When the deputy flipped on his overhead lights and pulled in behind the Cadillac, the driver, whom he identified as Craig, allegedly sped away, Riley said. Sweet Home police officers joined Bostrom in the pursuit through Sweet Home.
According to Sheriff’s reports, Craig lost control of her vehicle and crashed near the weigh station. When police arrived, the Cadillac was located upside down near a wooded area on the north side of the highway with flames coming out of the vehicle.
Craig was pinned under the roof of the Cadillac. Law enforcement personnel were able to remove her before the arrival of medics.
Craig suffered multiple broken bones and was transported by ambulance to Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital and later moved to a Portland hospital for surgery, Riley said. He did not know which hospital she was in.
Efforts to determine her whereabouts on Monday were unsuccessful, thanks to laws governing patient privacy.
Records indicate Craig already faces charges in two other cases from the past month: attempted theft by extortion and driving under the influence.
On Jan. 6, Albany police arrested Craig for driving under the influence, according to Albany Police Department records. Police received a call about Craig at about 5:21 a.m. She had reportedly been sleeping behind the wheel of an SUV at a stop sign in the 1100 block of Washington Street SW. She was lodged at Linn County Jail that morning and released without posting bail.
On Dec. 28, Linn County Sheriff’s Office arrested Craig for attempted theft by extortion near the intersection of Crowfoot Road and Cascade Drive, in the Lebanon area.
That incident involved her ex-husband, who lives in Arkansas, said LCSO Sgt. Flint LeBard. The ex-husband reported to the Sheriff’s Office that he was receiving texts from Craig that she needed $800 and that she was going to get away from Oregon and head back to Arkansas.
He told deputies that he had sent money to her in the past, LeBard said, and she never returned to Arkansas.
This time, she allegedly told him she had a gun to her head and would be executed, making her ex-husband believe she was in imminent danger, LeBard said.
“We were able to determine this was a hoax put on by her.”
Deputies searched around the county, assisted by Sweet Home Police Department in Sweet Home, to locate her, LeBard said. She was arrested and charged after they found her in the Lebanon area.
On June 13, 2014 Craig was arrested in Fulton County, Ark., for driving while intoxicated, according to a report by AreaWideNews, a newspaper group in the area. The New Era was unable to locate a disposition in the case.