A Columbia woman was arrested last night after she allegedly tried to outrun the law in a car with no front tires.

Davenport

At about 9:30 p.m. Donna M. Davenport, 22, was allegedly intoxicated as she drove south on I-70 Drive S.E., toward a roundabout at Bull Run Road and Port Way. As she approached the roundabout, police said, she ran over a median in the middle of the road, breaking the curb, and then drove through the grassy center of the roundabout, crashing thorough a "One Way" sign, Columbia police Sgt. Dianne Bernhard said.

The impacts shredded the tires on Davenport’s 1996 Oldsmobile and broke off a piece of the car’s front grille.

Even without front tires, Davenport continued driving on the wheel rims as a Boone County sheriff’s deputy pursued. The deputy reported Davenport’s car was "emitting a large shower of sparks coming out of both sides of the vehicle," Sheriff Dwayne Carey said.

The pursuit lasted several blocks before Davenport stopped in the parking lot of Petro Mart at 5612 E. St. Charles Road. She allegedly tried to resist arrest and had to be subdued with a Taser.

Davenport was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, driving while revoked, careless and imprudent driving, resisting arrest and leaving the scene of an accident. She was being held this morning at the Boone County Jail, with bond set at $10,145.

Since March 2006, Davenport has been arrested for allegedly driving while intoxicated five times.

In November, she received two years’ probation in Audrain County for DWIs in July and August. In January, she pleaded guilty to a Boone County DWI charge that dated to March 2006 and again was placed on two years’ probation. She is awaiting trial on another DWI charge filed in July in Boone County.

Prosecutors are allowed to seek felony DWI charges, which could result in as much as a four-year prison sentence, for third-time DWI offenders. However, the law requires that the third offense happen after the first two convictions.

Davenport has so far avoided felony charges because the arrest that led to her third conviction and her outstanding DWI charge occurred before she was convicted in November.

Thus, despite having three DWI convictions, this arrest is the first that could result in a felony charge. Without commenting specifically on Davenport’s case, Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Knight said he takes DWIs very seriously.

"If someone has been convicted of multiple DWI offenses and commits another one, of course there’s a great likelihood that felony charges will be filed," Knight said.

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