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East Naples woman charged after vehicle chase
Joann Michelle LeBlanc
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NAPLES — Bond was set at $135,000 for an East Naples woman who Collier County sheriff’s deputies say led them on a chase through a residential neighborhood Saturday morning before ramming a patrol car and being taken into custody after being tased.
Joann Michelle LeBlanc, 34, of 5429 Martin St., East Naples, was arrested in the area of Carolina Avenue and Gilchrist Street early Saturday after leading deputies on a 13-minute chase through Naples Manor, south of Rattlesnake Hammock Road, just east of U.S. 41.
The chase began when a sheriff’s deputy watched a vehicle driven by LeBlanc swerve around another car on Floridian Avenue without using a turn signal while traveling well above the speed limit. According to the report, the officer attempted to stop LeBlanc by activating his emergency lights, but she continued driving through Naples Manor, eventually turning off her headlights.
Additional officers were sent to the scene, some of which attempted to place stop sticks in the road to bring LeBlanc’s car to a halt.
Three deputies reported that LeBlanc nearly struck them while they were placing stop sticks, or road spikes, in the roadway.
Deputies eventually used a “PIT maneuver,” typically employed to make a chase subject lose control and spin out, at the intersection of Carolina Avenue and Gilchrist Street. The maneuver was successful, the report states, and LeBlanc reportedly struck one deputy’s patrol vehicle with her car.
After striking that patrol car, the report states, LeBlanc put her vehicle in reverse and began repeatedly ramming the driver side of another deputy’s vehicle, all while he was still trapped inside.
While she was ramming the deputy’s car, another officer applied a Taser to LeBlanc to subdue her, eventually allowing officers to remove her from her car and place her in handcuffs.
Brian Fisher, the deputy who said his car was repeatedly rammed, was treated by EMS for bruising to his neck. Collier Sheriff spokeswoman Karie Partington was not able to provide an update on his status Sunday afternoon.
LeBlanc was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons. The report on the incident noted that LeBlanc appeared to be under the influence of narcotics, however, deputies said no additional drug-related charges have been filed.
She was charged with fleeing an officer while causing injury or property damage, five counts of aggravated assault on an officer, one count of aggravated battery on an officer and one count of resisting an officer with violence.
LeBlanc’s bond was set by a judge because of a lengthy prior record, which includes a felony drug conviction from 1997, a felony conviction for grand theft auto and fleeing an officer in a 2002 event and several subsequent traffic infractions, one of which is pending from May of this year.
