A wild and dangerous scene was captured on video in Orange County Thursday afternoon when a driver allegedly under the influence of drugs smashed into parked cars and tried to run over a man before leading authorities on a brief chase that shut down the southbound 5 Freeway.
Video shows the female driver of a Nissan Rogue crash into several vehicles in a business parking lot in the 24000 block of Chrisanta Drive.
Simon Wong was recording video from an upstairs window as the driver crashed into his SUV. He ran downstairs with his cell phone camera still recording, only to have the woman try to run him over.
“She was laughing,” Wong told KTLA. “I was scared. I was worried about others’ safety too.”
The driver, whom the Orange County Sheriff’s Department identified as 33-year-old Aria Alexandria Martin, screamed at witnesses who could only watch helplessly as the mayhem unfolded, video showed.
After Martin fled the parking lot, she headed onto the 5 Freeway, where local law enforcement shut down southbound traffic near Oso Parkway to force her to stop, authorities said.
Martin was taken into custody shortly afterward, and she was arrested on two felony charges, vandalism and assault with a deadly weapon, Sgt. Mike Woodroof said. She was also charged with two misdemeanors, reckless driving and driving under the influence of drugs, Woodruff added.
She is due to appear in court on Tuesday.
No injuries were reported.
Damage to the vehicles is estimated to be in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Luis Zuniga contributed to this report.