By Rhonda J. Miller and Jerome Burdi
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. - A West Palm Beach woman is in jail on charges of injuring a police officer with her car after stealing a $40 bathrobe from a linen store.
The officer fired a shot at the car as it fled, leaving the woman recovering from a gunshot wound to her left arm and abdomen. Police late Friday were searching for a gold late-model Mitsubishi Galant and at least one man and one woman in connection with the theft.
Darlene Rawls, 37, is charged with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and petty theft, in addition to a previous felony charge of a forged document, Delray Beach police spokesman Jeff Messer said.
The Delray Beach officer, who was not identified, suffered a knee injury, Messer said.
The incident began at 9:30 a.m. Friday when employees at Linens ‘n Things in a shopping center at Linton Boulevard and Federal Highway spotted two women and one man shoplifting and dialed 911. With the bathrobe concealed, the thieves left the store and got into their car, where another man might have been waiting, Messer said.
The officer who responded saw the Mitsubishi at the south side of the parking lot and chased them as they drove west. When they were snarled in traffic at Linton Boulevard and Southwest Fourth Avenue, the officer wedged his car near theirs, got out and identified himself.
The woman at the wheel drove toward the officer and struck him as she fled, Messer said. The officer fired one shot, striking Rawls.
Police were notified when a woman with an abdominal wound was treated at Bethesda Memorial Hospital in Boynton Beach. She was transferred to Delray Medical Center for trauma care, stabilized and taken to the Delray Beach Police Department until being booked into the County Jail.
The police officer was treated for an injured ligament in his right knee, Messer said. He is on standard administrative leave while the incident is being investigated.
Rawls has been arrested numerous times on theft charges and driving with a suspended license, according to records.
When Delray Beach police put out an alert early Friday, Boynton Beach police followed a silver Mitsubishi that they thought fit the description, Boynton Beach police said.
The driver of the Mitsubishi refused to stop and made his way onto Interstate 95. Police followed him into Lake Worth, where the man fled from the car on Pine Street. Officer Rachel Loy followed, then shot him with a stun gun, police said.
Kashus Davis, 22, of Boynton Beach, was arrested on drug charges for allegedly having crack cocaine in his car. He was not the suspect Delray Beach police were looking for, Boynton Beach police said.
The late-model, gold Mitsubishi Galant may have a damaged windshield, Messer said.
Police are asking anyone with other information related to shoplifting incident to call Delray Beach police at 561-243-7800 or Crime Stoppers at 800-458-8477.
Copyright 2007 Sun-Sentinel