More news of the weird out of Maricopa County

A naked woman stole a deputy sheriff's patrol truck yesterday and led police in a high speed chase for close to 70 miles across a good chunk of the state. They finally managed to get some spike strips put down on I-10 ahead of her. Initial reports were a tad confusing: one, she was naked. Two, she may have been the victim of a sexual assault (which could explain why she was naked). So how does a naked woman manage to carjack a deputy sheriff? And why was she at a gas station?

The news reports, which appear to be as baffled as the rest of us, note that the deputy responded to a report of a naked woman at a Shell gas station in Gila Bend, which is southwest of Phoenix on I-8 heading toward Yuma. According to Reuters, the woman appeared distraught and disoriented when the deputy approached her. He was apparently trying to cover her nakedness with a blanket when she took off in his truck. By the time the cops managed to stop her, she was almost in Tucson.

Overall, it's pretty much of a mystery except for one thing: I cheerfully predict the deputy is going to end up being disciplined for leaving his truck running when he got to the Shell station. All the naked woman had to do was throw it into gear to make her dash for wherever it was she thought she was going. 

And, on the positive side, maybe because she was female and naked, the cops didn't kill her when they finally got her to stop. They didn't even tase her. They used a bean bag stun gun to subdue her. Although going by the aerial shots of where they stopped her, they could have simply circled the patrol cars  and penned her in. I guess there's nothing like the report of a naked woman making a high speed getaway to inspire every cop within a 100-mile radius to decide his assistance is needed at the scene.