More details have emerged of the high-speed N3 chase which saw a woman attempting to escape from police despite being shot at. The woman’s age has been confirmed by police as 21 years old.

According to Estcourt police spokesperson Lt Colonel TM Mabaso, the woman had stopped at a petrol station in Warden.

“The car was driven by a white female driver who put in R200’s worth of petrol at Warden,” said Lt Col Mabaso. The woman failed to pay the attendant and sped away.

N3 Highway Patrol stationed at Harrismith spotted the vehicle on the N3 passing Harrismith at high speed, and gave chase.

Highway Patrol chased the vehicle until the Tugela Plaza, but it had smashed through the tollgates 5 minutes earlier.

More police and RTI units joined together in the chase. At one stage, six police and RTI vehicles were chasing the fleeing woman at over 180km/h.

According to Lt Col Mabaso, the driver attempted to sideswipe an SAPS Highway Patrol van that had pulled up next to her. For the officer’s protection and the protection of other officers and members of the public, shots were fired at the vehicle in an attempt to stop it. Even when police shot out the tyres of the Nissan Micra, the driver did not stop or even slow down.

A roadblock was set up near Estcourt, with the southbound lane of the N3 closed by police. With nowhere to go, the woman stopped the vehicle and police stormed the car.

The woman was arrested for theft and detained in Estcourt before being sent back to Warden.

She faces numerous other charges (she has no valid driver’s licence and the fact that the car was reported stolen).