Police pursuit ends with a woman accused of stealing a car towed from Doral Lake

DORAL — A woman is facing multiple charges, including grand larceny, after she was accused of stealing a car from a Palmetto Bay dealership Thursday afternoon and then leading police on a chase through southwest Miami-Dade.

Police identified the woman as 27-year-old Melina Logan of North Carolina.

According to police, the police pursuit began around 1:42 p.m. with a reported carjacking at a Honda dealership at 16165 S. Dixie Highway.

Logan was test driving a silver Honda Civic Sport and when the saleswoman got out of the vehicle, she drove away from the parking lot, police said.

The Miami-Dade Police Aviation Unit was dispatched and then began pursuing the vehicle, which traveled north on the Palmetto Expressway before at some point turning off and heading south.

The pursuit ended when Logan collided with several vehicles on the exit ramp near Jackson West Hospital in Doral on Northwest 25th Street, just as Chopper 4 reached the scene.

After the accident, Logan abandoned the damaged vehicle on an emergency lane and tried to escape officers by jumping into the nearby lake and swimming away.

Once she was in the water, officers threw ropes to her so she could hold them down, but she refused. Several officers then jumped into the water, grabbed her and pulled her out.

Police said Logan scratched one officer on both arms, jumped over another officer and momentarily pushed him underwater.

Officers were eventually able to get Logan to the concrete ledge surrounding the lake and out of the water.

Police said Logan was arrested, charged accordingly and taken to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center for processing.

Logan, who also faces two counts of assaulting a police officer, appeared partially naked as she was dragged to the ledge.

There were traffic delays in the southbound lanes of the Palmetto Expressway.