Woman caught speeding wondered why she was arrested

Ohio State Highway Patrol officers arrested 33-year-old Esther Paragulla last month, but she apparently had no idea why.

Now dashboard and body camera videos shed new light on the incident.

According to authorities, Paragulla was pursued by 10 patrol cars for miles through Trumbull County and into Portage County. The pursuit lasted nearly 30 minutes.

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The footage shows that it was a cloudy and rainy day on June 29 when a car sped past OSHP. They used blue lights and sirens to try to stop the driver, and one patrol car after another joined the pursuit.

“If she stops again, someone should grab the stop sticks and throw them in front of her car,” a police officer can be heard saying in his vehicle.

The police had already deployed the stop sticks when the driver reached a speed of over 160 km/h. Then the car finally started to slow down

“Pull over and give up,” shouted a policeman.

Then the vehicle stopped and the police officers drew their weapons. After a passenger was brought to the ground, the scene becomes bizarre because when the police told Paragulla that she was under arrest, she asked, “For what?”

“Are you serious?” she continued, before complaining about her phone being confiscated. “What’s your problem?”

A Portage County grand jury has now indicted Paragulla, a New Jersey native, on charges of speeding, failure to obey regulations and aggravated assault. She has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and will undergo a psychiatric evaluation, according to court records.

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