Hillsboro Police: Early Morning Chase Leaves Multiple Cars Damaged

HILLSBORO, OR – A woman from Hawaii left multiple vehicles, including police cruisers, damaged in Hillsboro and unincorporated Washington County after an early morning encounter with law enforcement, according to county sheriff’s officials.

Dawn Marie Catalano, 42, was arrested around 4 a.m. Friday and taken to the Washington County Jail, charged with multiple counts of reckless driving and reckless endangering, hit and run, and attempting to elude a police officer, sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. David Thompson said.

Beginning around 3:30 a.m. April 7, Catalano allegedly first struck a vehicle in the parking lot of the 7-11 convenience store at Southwest Tualatin Valley Highway and Southwest 192nd Avenue after asking the driver of that vehicle for directions.

Next, Catalano nearly hit construction workers on T.V. Highway between Southwest 209th Avenue and Southwest Cornelius Pass Road before also nearly ramming a Hillsboro police car, Thompson said. Hillsboro police reportedly quit the chase when Catalano drove her car into the oncoming lane, allegedly in an attempt to hit another police car head-on.

Washington County Sheriff’s deputies located Catalano back near Southwest Cornelius Pass Road, but she reportedly refused to pull over and instead led deputies on a chase eastbound on T.V. Highway.

Spike strips placed at Southwest 185th Avenue blew Catalano’s tires, and a PIT maneuver performed on Southwest 170th Avenue near Southwest Alexander Street brought the chase to an end, police said.

The whole ordeal took about 25 minutes, police said, adding that she may have also hit a car in Beaverton and another in Hillsboro.

"It's not that far out of the norm," Thompson told Patch Friday. "People do crazy things sometimes."

Neither drugs nor alcohol were noted as factors in this case.

Photos Courtesy: Washington County Sheriff's Office