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A female individual formerly staying at a female recovery facility in California allegedly stole a minivan and engaged in a hours-long police chase ending with her crossing the international boundary into Mexico on Monday.

Vehicle Theft Discovered from Recovery Residence

According to a law enforcement announcement, a another female, the owner of the vehicle, 45, notified authorities that her 2004 gray Toyota Sienna was missing, along with her vehicle key. Walters, who manages two women’s sober living homes, named the suspect as one of the residents at a recovery facility in Thousand Oaks, located approximately 60 minutes north-west of Los Angeles.

“The keys were taken out of my manager’s handbag. I arrived just as it was happening,” she said, noting that the vehicle is used for the sobriety home’s tasks.

High-Speed Pursuit Develops Across Multiple Counties

Officials located the stolen vehicle about 12 miles north in a nearby city, where they attempted to pull the vehicle over, but the suspect did not comply and accelerated rapidly. She attained speeds of about 145km/h on the 118 freeway until the pursuit proceeded into LA County. At that juncture, Ventura county authorities handed over the pursuit to the CHP once the driver entered the Interstate 405 heading south.

“This one is particularly unusual in the sense of the road situation enabling drivers to continue to remain on the freeway and prolong this pursuit,” commented a spokesperson from the Ventura county sheriff’s office.

The suspect reportedly avoided all the tire-deflation devices tossed on the roadway by authorities, as seen in footage from above.

International Getaway and Aftermath

The chase eventually reached the US-Mexico border by 1.30pm, prompting the highway patrol to terminate the chase due to jurisdictional constraints.

Walters stated on the following day that the vehicle was situated in the Mexican city of Tijuana and that she was coordinating with the authorities to recover the vehicle.

“At the end of the day, I’m not worried about the car,” she said. “I’m relieved knowing she was not injured. The car is replaceable.”

Owner’s Perspective

Walters, who has run the recovery residence since October 2024, recognizes that the path to recovery from substance abuse and emotional distress is often non-linear.

“This is a psychological and addiction emergency,” she said. “There is a need for more support. We need more resources for those that are struggling.”

“The recovery process can be messy,” she added.