VERO BEACH — A 25-year-old New York woman faces seven driving-related charges, including child endangerment, after eluding law enforcement at high speeds for 10 miles on Interstate 95 early Tuesday afternoon, reports show.

Maria “Zion Christ” Roberts drove her white van in excess of 110 mph from northern St. Lucie County to Indian River County while going in and out of traffic and attempting U-turns.

Four miles south of Sebastian she crossed the median and sped north in the southbound lanes for several miles before sheriff’s deputies finally were able to puncture one of her tires and the car slammed into a guardrail.

Deputies had blocked off southbound interstate traffic, at Sebastian, to clear the highway ahead of her.

At the time of her arrest, Roberts called herself “Zion Christ.” Later she was identified as Maria Roberts, of Flushing, N.Y.

Earlier in the pursuit, she drove southbound on northbound lanes for a short distance around the State Road 60 exit west of Vero Beach. She circled underneath the interchange while narrowly avoiding many crashes, but bashed into a sheriff’s patrol car. Then she got back on northbound I-95.

If she had gone on State Road 60, “that would have been a nightmare,” said Indian River County sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Jeff Luther.

A sheriff’s helicopter flew overhead, tracking her progress, while more than five patrol cars aided in her capture.

“We didn’t know what we had,” Luther said. “The windows (on her car) were dark. We didn’t know how many people were inside.”

An unrestrained 7-year-old girl was later found on the van’s floor. The unidentified youth was treated at Sebastian River Medical Center and then turned over to the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Roberts is being held in the Indian River County Jail under a $45,000 bail on two counts of felony fleeing and two counts of reckless driving, battery on a law enforcement officer, child abuse and obstruction of justice by giving a false name.

She was quiet during her arraignment before County Judge Joe Wild on Wednesday. When Wild asked how she supported herself, she replied that she got money from God. She is next scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 13.

The chase began around 1:38 p.m. Tuesday, when Florida Highway Patrol troopers saw the van switching lanes without using a turn signal and rapidly accelerating.

They turned on their lights to stop her and she sped off and squeezed her van between a truck and another car, according to reports.

When she almost lost control, the trooper backed off around Indrio Road in St. Lucie County and alerted the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators said she hasn’t explained why she was speeding. No one answered her phone number in New York.

She has no prior criminal record in Florida.

Elliott Jones

Tags: arrested, bail, chase, child endangerment, eluding law enforcement, God, i-95, money, new york, police, speeding, Traffic

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 8th, 2009 at 10:55 am and is filed under Courts, Crime, Indian River County, St. Lucie County, Traffic, Weird News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.