Woman Caught Fleeing From Stolen Car Charged While Driver Remains At Large

A Waterford woman is facing felony charges after she was caught fleeing a stolen vehicle that led Bloomfield Township police on a brief chase last week.

Tara Gainer, 39, was arraigned Tuesday on one count of unlawfully driving away an automobile and was ordered to the Oakland County Jail on $20,000 bond, court records show. She was the passenger in a 2005 Honda Civic that Bloomfield Township police officers tried to pull over for speeding in the area of Square Lake Road and Kendry Street just before 7 a.m. on Aug. 28, according to police reports.

The vehicle stopped for police, but as an officer approached, the driver sped away into a nearby subdivision. He eluded officers for a few blocks before stopping the car in the back yard of a home in the 400 block of Eileen Street. Both the driver and Gainer ran off into a wooded area nearby, and officers caught her a short time later. The driver remains at large.

Investigators determined the vehicle was recently stolen from outside a Troy residence, and they found property recently stolen from a home in Waterford inside the hatchback. Police have identified the driver, but are not releasing his name at this point of the investigation, Lt. Phil Langmeyer said in a written statement. The same man is also suspected of stealing a 2004 Jeep Wrangler from the Honda of Bloomfield lot a few months ago, poilce said.

Gainer was released from the Oakland County Jail upon posting bond and awaits a preliminary hearing next week in 48^th District Court. She was not represented by an attorney at the time of arraignment.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to call the investigations division at 248-433-7752.