A Stafford woman wanted for allegedly writing bad checks was shot yesterday by a Fairfax County officer

The Washington Post



July 07, 1998, Tuesday, Final Edition


Police Shoot Woman After Two-County Chase


BYLINE: Wendy Melillo, Washington Post Staff Writer


SECTION: METRO; Pg. D05


LENGTH: 522 words


A Stafford woman wanted for allegedly writing bad checks was shot yesterday by a Fairfax County officer after she led police on a high-speed chase that ended in the parking lot of a Woodlawn area shopping center.


Diana Elizabeth Tyler, 38, was flown to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where she was treated for a neck wound and released. She was being held without bond at the Fairfax jail.


Police said Tyler, who was not carrying a weapon, was shot about 12:30 a.m. as officers struggled to remove her from her 1995 Oldsmobile Achieva in the 8600 block of Richmond Highway. Authorities would not release the name of the officer who shot Tyler or elaborate on the circumstances of the shooting. The officer was placed on administrative leave with pay.


Tyler was charged in Fairfax and Prince William counties with driving on a suspended driver's license and attempting to elude police. Tyler was already wanted in Fairfax County for failing to appear in court after being charged with writing a bad check. She also faces bad check and larceny charges in Stafford and Fredericksburg.


Warren R. Carmichael, a Fairfax police spokesman, said the investigation of the shooting could take several weeks to complete. He said the results will be forwarded to the commonwealth's attorney's office for review.


"Given the circumstances of the chase, the fact that weapons may have been drawn is appropriate," Carmichael said.


The chase began in Prince William County, where authorities said Tyler was spotted driving 25 mph in a 45-mph zone and crossed a double-yellow line three times as she headed north on Jefferson Davis Highway. "Our officers thought she was drunk," said Sgt. Kim Chinn, a Prince William County police spokeswoman.


Chinn said an officer signaled Tyler to pull over, and she appeared to stop by entering the parking lot of a fast food restaurant. But Tyler then allegedly drove around the officer's cruiser and headed south on Jefferson Davis Highway. Two more police cruisers entered the chase and followed Tyler into a used-car lot where she turned around again and headed north, police said.


The officers chased Tyler at speeds up to 75 mph for 27 miles before she entered Fairfax County, police said. At the border, about four Fairfax cruisers joined the chase and followed Tyler for 10 miles before she turned into the the Engleside Plaza parking lot at Richmond Highway and Lukens Lane, police said. As she tried to leave the parking lot, the officers blocked her path with their cruisers and ordered her to get out of her car, police said.


Fairfax County police said Tyler refused to leave her vehicle, and one of their officers shot her as they tried to remove her from the car.


Suzanne V. Suher, Tyler's attorney, declined to comment on the shooting.


Tyler, who was born in Madrid, Spain, has been unemployed for the last year, and she separated from her husband two months ago, according to court records. She was charged in Fairfax County with writing a bad check for $ 261.25 to a Lorton antiques store last Nov. 17. The check was returned because the bank account had been closed.