‘This Is Crazy!’: Wild Video Shows Washington Driver Plowing Car Onto Suburban Sidewalk to Chase Child, Later Resists Arrest and Is Released Without Bail
Kids riding electric bikes have been making national headlines amid safety concerns, but this is one instance where an e-bike might have saved a boy’s life. A Spokane, Washington, woman was arrested on April 28 after she jumped a curb in her silver Ford Focus and barreled down a sidewalk toward a 13-year-old boy on his bike.
Stunning footage shows the boy narrowly outpacing the crazed driver after he hit the e-bike’s throttle and shot down the quiet suburban street, with the car in pursuit on the sidewalk. As the driver blasted her horn, neighbors in the video could be heard gasping in horror: “Oh my God…this is crazy!”
“Thankfully, the juvenile was not hit or injured,” the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said in a May 4 news release.
Police caught up to speed demon Wendy A. Clemente, 56, less than half an hour later while responding to a report of a burglary about a mile away.
Clemente, who was with her dog, had parked her car in the driveway of a stranger’s house after spotting other dogs in a fenced yard that she wanted hers to “socialize” with, the news release stated. She told police she was looking for the homeowners and not attempting to break into the house.
According to local station KREM2, which spoke to investigators, she said she “did not recall” the incident with the child, and initially denied being under the influence of alcohol, only to later change her story following a tumultuous arrest.
The Sheriff’s Office statement read, “While trying to put her in the back of a patrol car, she resisted and even tried to kick a Deputy. They eventually restrained her in the back of the patrol vehicle.”
Clemente was charged with 1st-degree assault, DUI, and 1st-degree criminal trespass. After spending one night in jail, she was released on her own recognizance without bond.
The teen’s mother, Jen Taylor, and thousands of commenters online are demanding to know why.
“So, apparently, you can try and run my kid over and get away scot-free. We have a f*cked up judicial system,” Taylor wrote in the video’s caption on TikTok. But Clemente’s fate is far from determined, as the prosecutor’s office will be making the final charging call, which could include additional charges, and there will be more court dates to come.
The distressed mother also responded to critics who assumed she didn’t intervene in the moment: “My son is old enough to ride around our neighborhood without mom. I was not there; a neighbor recorded this. If I was there, I would have stepped in, not just stand there watching.”
Addressing viewers concerned about her son’s welfare, she confirmed that he emerged from the ordeal unscathed, saying, “He is good.”