By Noah Feit
The State (Columbia, S.C.)
SUMTER COUNTY, SC — A Midlands woman accused of stealing multiple vehicles and wrecking them, including a Sumter County Sheriff’s Office patrol car, was denied bond Thursday.
Mia Victoria Thornton, 21, was denied bond Thursday. She was charged with:
- Driving under Suspension (by South Carolina Highway Patrol)
- Failure to Stop for a blue light (by South Carolina Highway Patrol)
- Possession of a stolen vehicle – Two counts (Sumter County Sheriff’s Office)
- Aggravated assault – Two counts (Sumter County Sheriff’s Office)
- Assault and Battery With Intent to Kill (Sumter County Sheriff’s Office)
- Malicious injury to property (Sumter County Sheriff’s Office)
- Grand Larceny over $10,000 (Sumter County Sheriff’s Office)
- Grand Larceny over $2,000 but less than $10,000 (Sumter County Sheriff’s Office)
- Resisting arrest with a deadly weapon (Sumter County Sheriff’s Office)
The Sumter resident was driving her boyfriend’s car when it broke down near Eagle Road and Broad Street, according to the sheriff’s office.
A good Samaritan, identified as Freddie Lang, attempted to help Thornton jump start the car, according to an incident report, adding he was driving Thornton back to her uncle’s residence.
While Lang was driving, Thornton grabbed the steering wheel and forced the car into oncoming traffic where it collided with a Cadillac Escalade, according to the incident report.
When Lang got out to check on the occupants of the other vehicle Thornton reportedly jumped in the driver’s seat and fled in Lang’s vehicle, according to the incident report.
A few minutes later, Thornton reportedly wrecked Lang’s vehicle on Pinewood Road and began walking back toward town.
A tow truck driver picker Thornton up and brought her back to the wrecked vehicle on Pinewood Road, where a trooper from the South Carolina Highway Patrol had responded and called for a deputy to assist.
Thornton was handcuffed and placed in the rear of the deputy’s vehicle, according to the sheriff’s office. She was able to slip her hand from one of the cuffs and crawled through a porthole window into the front seat.
She then led deputies on a 15-minute chase with speeds that exceeded 100 mph that ended when she crashed through a gate and fence before plowing into a tree in the Sumter Industrial Park, the sheriff’s office said.
Damages at the Industrial Park business were estimated at about $15,000, according to the sheriff’s office, adding there has been no estimate of the Good Samaritan’s vehicle at this time. Damage to the patrol car is estimated at more than $10,000.
Thornton is being held at the Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center.
©2017 The State (Columbia, S.C.)