The woman who led police on a dramatic high-speed chase in Los Angeles that ended with her plunging her luxury SUV into the Pacific Ocean has been photographed and identified for the first time by DailyMail.com.
Jessica Reynolds, 39, a real estate appraiser from Portales, New Mexico, was arrested early Sunday morning after she was pulled from the water by sheriff’s deputies at the Venice Beach Pier.
Bystander footage shared on social media at the time showed Reynolds frantically trying to swim away from police who tried to save her after driving her silver BMW had left the waterlogged SUV behind.
An arrest report obtained by DailyMail.com confirms that Reynolds had attempted “swimming several hundred feet into the ocean before requiring rescue from the Marina Sheriff Department and the U.S. Coast Guard.”
She was taken to Marina Hospital for treatment and placed in a 72-hour psychiatric facility. She was arrested on suspicion of evading police.
Jessica Reynolds, 39, was arrested after dumping her car into the Pacific Ocean on Saturday evening after leading the California Highway Patrol on a high-speed chase
New video obtained by DailyMail.com shows Reynolds punching the water as he attempts to swim back to shore before being rescued by the USCG
Reynolds, a real estate appraiser from New Mexico, was taken to Marina Hospital for treatment and later taken into custody on charges of eluding police
According to the report, authorities also managed to rescue Reynolds’ two Boston Terriers before the vehicle was swept away by the current.
The dogs were subsequently taken into custody by Animal Protection.
According to the charge sheet, the high-speed chase began at 11:49 p.m. after police attempted to stop Reynolds for speeding.
Jessica Reynolds is a real estate appraiser working in Lincoln, Otero and Chaves counties in New Mexico
But in scenes that mimicked those of an action movie, the traffic stop quickly turned into chaos after Reynolds failed to stop, forcing police to give chase on I-105.
The chase entered the West Los Angeles area at speeds of up to 85 miles per hour, eventually leaving the freeway at Jefferson Blvd and leading police through several city streets at speeds of 55-60 miles per hour.
Reynolds eventually made her way onto Washington Blvd toward Venice Beach, where she continued to avoid capture and drove straight into the ocean just a few minutes after midnight.
Witness Frederic Stevens told Traffic News LA: ‘We saw a car pull into the parking lot and then it disappeared for a second and then it sped over and we saw tracks in the sand.
“He just drove into the water, stuff was flying everywhere.”
Officials from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol can recount the shocking turn of events as they unfolded, in message audio obtained by DailyMail.com.
Officers are heard describing the suspect as a ‘female approximately 40 years old’.
“The vehicle ended up in the ocean just south of the pier. The occupant is still in the vehicle,” an officer says in the video.
“The driver is out of the vehicle, she is heading towards the ocean, away from the car… Driver is attempting to swim into the ocean.”
An arrest report obtained by DailyMail.com confirms that the woman had attempted “swimming several hundred feet into the ocean before requiring rescue by the Marina Sheriff Department and the U.S. Coast Guard.”
Reynolds led police to Venice Beach Pier after refusing to stop for speeding
She was seen paddling in the water as officers aboard a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department vessel attempted to rescue her by tossing a floating donut into the ocean.
‘Coast Guard wanted. He was wearing a black shirt and possibly Levi’s, attempting to swim into the ocean.
“Driver is still swimming into the ocean, away from the car.”
Reynolds was eventually pulled from the churning waves after swimming “like a professional athlete” from the doomed car to the fishing pier at Venice Beach, California.
“It looked like something out of an action movie, with this car careening through the sand and crashing into the water,” an onlooker, who gave her name as Sarah Jane, told DailyMail.com on Saturday.
She said she was surprised the woman survived.
According to the CHP, officers attempted to pull over the car for speeding on the 10 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles.
The chase ended in Venice when the woman drove her car over the sand into the Pacific Ocean.
“It was cold, dark and the waves were choppy,” said Sarah Jane, a tourist from England.
“I really don’t know how she managed to survive, let alone swim such a long distance.”
While onlookers on the pier tried to help by shouting at the woman, some were less than helpful when they discovered the driver had left two of her dogs in the car.
According to the California High Patrol, officers attempted to pull over the car for speeding on the 10 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles.
One of the dogs managed to get out of the vehicle and swim to shore, while the second was rescued by lifeguards
Video footage shows the dramatic moment two lifeguards approach the submerged car with flashlights as they search for other passengers.
As a lifeguard peers in, he gestures to the other lifeguard to indicate that someone is in the vehicle.
Then the lifeguard opened the backseat door as the waves crashed against the car – only to pull out a small dog, a Boston Terrier.
You then see the lifeguard walking back to the sand where two red lifeguard pickup trucks are parked as other onlookers watch in disbelief.
“Another dog, another Boston Terrier, managed to get out of the car while it was still moving and snaking through the sand.
“He was seen running nervously through the sand until someone picked him up and held him in an attempt to calm him down,” said Josh Sullivan, who was walking his own dog at the time of the incident.
A woman was rescued from the Pacific Ocean on Sunday after driving her SUV into the sea during a high-speed chase with the LAPD
A spotlight is focused on the woman, who was in the water after falling into the surf
On Sunday morning, her car was pulled out of the water – to the astonishment of passers-by
The woman was seen paddling in the water as a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department boat attempted to rescue her by tossing a floating donut into the ocean, which she grabbed and then lifted onto the boat.
According to Officer Erik Larson of the California Highway Patrol, the chase began at 11:21 PM on Saturday in El Monte and ended at 12:03 PM on Sunday in Venice Beach.
“Both dogs were picked up by animal control,” Larson told DailyMail.com
An officer told DailyMail.com that the woman was taken to hospital and the dogs remain at Animal Care Services.
The next morning, beachgoers unaware of the incident were surprised to discover a car being towed from the water onto land and later removed.
The windshield was shattered and piles of sand could be seen on the front and back seats. There were also skid marks in the sand.
One person joked that it was an early start to Saint Patrick’s Day in Venice Beach. CHP withheld the woman’s identity and said they will release it Monday morning.