The Washington Times
July 7, 1998, Tuesday, Final Edition
Suspect shot during her arrest
BYLINE: Stephen Dinan; THE WASHINGTON TIMES
SECTION: Part C; METROPOLITAN TIMES; VIRGINIA NEWS; Pg. C7
LENGTH: 323 words
A Fairfax County police officer's gun went off during a
scuffle yesterday morning, wounding a woman who had just led police on a long
chase along U.S. Route 1 through Prince William and Fairfax counties. After the
chase finally ended in a Mount Vernon shopping center, Diana Elizabeth Tyler,
38, of Stafford County, refused to get out of her car. While Fairfax officers
pulled her from the car, one
officer's gun went off, police said.
The bullet struck her in the neck, police said. Police
wouldn't give the name of the officer whose gun discharged and would only say
that he was holding the gun in his hand at the time. The department's internal
affairs division is investigating.Prince William County police spokeswoman Sgt.
Kim Chinn said Miss Tyler led police on a 27-minute chase through the county
there, changing direction on Route 1 several times, before heading into Fairfax
County.After a 10-mile chase along Route 1 north through Fairfax, Miss Tyler
pulled into the parking lot for Engleside Plaza. Police blocked her 1995 Oldsmobile
Achieva in before she could leave.They ran to the vehicle, telling her to get
out. She refused and the officers struggled to pull her out, which is when the
officer's weapon fired.Miss Tyler's neck injury was treated at Inova Fairfax
Hospital and she was released. There were no injuries or damage to cars during
the chase.Miss Tyler was charged with driving on a suspended license and
attempting to elude police. She is being held without bond in Fairfax
County.Police took the opportunity to serve her with a number of outstanding
warrants, including one in Fairfax for a felony bad-check incident; a
failure-to-appear warrant from a bad-check charge in Stafford County; and a
failure-to-appear warrant for a larceny charge in Fredericksburg. Prince William
police charged her with driving on a suspended license and attempting to elude
police.