The woman who led cops on a dramatic high-speed car chase in Los Angeles that ended with her luxury SUV plunging 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 Venice Beach Pier.
Bystander footage shared on social media at the time showed Reynolds frantically trying to escape cops trying to save her after driving her silver BMW X3 onto the sand and into the ocean, and abandoning her two dogs in the Waterlogged SUV.
An arrest report obtained by DailyMail.com confirms that Reynoldshad attempted to swim “several hundred yards into the ocean before requiring rescue from the Marina Sheriff’s Department and the U.S. Coast Guard.”
She was taken to Marina Hospital for treatment and placed on psychiatric hold for 72 hours. She was imprisoned for evading the police.
Jessica Reynolds, 39, was arrested after plunging her car into the Pacific Ocean after leading the California Highway Patrol on a high-speed chase Saturday evening.
New video obtained by DailyMail.com shows Reynolds struggling in the water as he tried 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 then taken into custody for evading police.
Authorities were also able to rescue Reynolds’ two Boston Terriers before the vehicle was swept away by the current, according to the report.
The dogs were then taken into custody by Animal Control.
According to the indictment, 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 mimicking those from an action movie, the traffic stop quickly descended into chaos after Reynolds failed to stop, forcing police to chase her down I-105.
The pursuit entered the West Los Angeles area at speeds up to 85 mph, eventually leaving the highway at Jefferson Blvd and leading police through several city streets at speeds of 35 to 65 mph.
Reynolds eventually headed down Washington Blvd toward Venice Beach where she continued to avoid capture and headed straight toward the ocean a few minutes after midnight.
Witness Frederic Stevens told Traffic News LA: “We saw a car speeding into the parking lot and then it disappeared for a second and then it sped off and we saw tracks in the sand.
“He fell in the water – stuff was flying everywhere.”
Officials from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol can be heard relaying the shocking turn of events as they unfolded, in an audio dispatch obtained by DailyMail.com.
Police can be heard describing the suspect as a “female around 40 years old.”
“The vehicle entered the ocean just south of the pier. The occupant is still in the vehicle,” a police officer said in the clip.
“The driver is out of the vehicle, heading towards the ocean away from the car…The driver is trying to swim in the ocean.”
An arrest report obtained by DailyMail.com confirms that the woman attempted to swim “several hundred yards into the ocean before requiring rescue from the Marina Sheriff’s 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, while deputies aboard a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department vessel attempted to save her by throwing a flotation donut into the ocean.
‘Ask the coast guard. Wearing a black shirt and possibly Levis, trying to swim in the ocean.
“The driver is still swimming in the ocean away from the car.”
Reynolds was eventually pulled from the surf after swimming “like a professional athlete” from the doomed car to the fishing pier in Venice Beach, California.
“It was like something out of an action movie, with this car driving over the sand and diving into the water,” a passerby, 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 stop the car for speeding on the 10 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles.
The chase ended in Venice when the woman drove her car across the sand and into the Pacific Ocean.
“It was cold, dark and the waves were rough,” 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 to the woman, some were not as supportive when they discovered the driver had left two of her dogs in the car.
According to the California High Patrol, officers attempted to stop 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 rescuers.
Video footage shows the dramatic moment when two rescuers approach the submerged car, holding flashlights, while searching for other passengers.
As one rescuer looks inside, he gestures to the other rescuer, suggesting someone is in the vehicle.
Then the rescuer opened the backseat door as waves hit the car – only to pull out a small dog, a Boston Terrier.
The lifeguard is then seen walking back towards the sand where two red lifeguard vans are parked with other spectators watching in disbelief.
“Another dog, another Boston Terrier, managed to get out of the car while it was still moving and ran onto the sand.
“He was seen wandering around nervously on the sand, until someone picked him up and held him to try 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 after driving her SUV into the sea during a high-speed chase with Los Angeles police on Sunday.
A spotlight is shined on the woman who was in the water after diving into the waves.
On Sunday morning, his car was pulled out of the water, much to the amazement of passers-by.
The woman was seen paddling in the water, while a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department boat attempted to save her by throwing a flotation donut into the ocean which she clung to and was then hoisted onto the boat.
According to Officer Erik Larson of the California Highway Patrol, the chase began at 11:21 p.m. Saturday in El Monte and ended at 12:03 a.m. Sunday in Venice Beach.
“Both dogs were picked up by animal control,” Larson told DailyMail.com
An officer told DailyMail.com the woman was taken to hospital and the dogs remained at Animal Care Services.
The next morning, beachgoers unaware of the incident were surprised to find a car towed from the water to land and then taken away.
The front window was smashed and mounds of sand were visible on the front and rear seats. Skid marks in the sand were also visible.
One person joked that St. Patrick’s Day starts early in Venice Beach. The CHP withheld the woman’s identity, saying it would release it Monday morning.