‘Sex trafficking awareness’ bus fleeing police crashes near school, Louisiana cops say
A police chase ended when a spray-painted bus crashed into a fence at a Catholic school in Louisiana, authorities said.
A 37-year-old Florida woman will face multiple charges after she led deputies on a chase Tuesday, Jan. 7, according to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office.
The incident unfolded around 6 a.m. after deputies got a call about a blowtorch-wielding woman who walked into a gas station in Mandeville and said she was looking for the Department of Family and Children’s Services office, deputies said in a news release.
She was driving a repurposed school bus with the message “sex trafficking awareness” painted in graffiti, Nola.com and WVUE reported. The bus had a Virginia license plate.
Deputies spotted the bus near a Walmart on Highway 190 and chased it into downtown Covington, where it crashed outside the St. Scholastica Academy.
No students were at school when the crash occurred, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of New Orleans told Nola.com.
The driver was the only person on the bus, deputies said. They also found the blowtorch.
Additional details about the crash weren’t immediately available.
Authorities said they believe the woman had been living in the bus for about a month at a local state park, though they didn’t say which one. In January, a man thought to be living in the bus with her was arrested on charges of domestic abuse.
Authorities said the incident is under investigation and charges are pending. It’s unclear what charges the woman could face.
Covington is about 40 miles north of New Orleans.
This story was originally published February 7, 2023 at 1:36 PM with the headline "‘Sex trafficking awareness’ bus fleeing police crashes near school, Louisiana cops say."