Henderson police ID woman accused of driving stolen vehicle, crashing into deputies

HENDERSON, Texas (KLTV) - A high speed pursuit involving a stolen vehicle ends in a deputy-involved crash and an arrest.

Sonja Vickers, 55, of Henderson, is facing multiple charges, including two counts of aggravated assault on a public servant, aggravated assault, burglary, and aggravated robbery.

The Rusk County Sheriff’s Office and the Henderson Police Department had dash cam video and the crash that was caught on camera.

The pursuit ended with a bang when Vickers tried to exit off of Highway 64 near Arp around 5 a.m.

Rusk County Sheriff Jeff Price says his deputy’s dash cam shows the deputy was slowing down from around 70 miles per hour when he hit the stolen vehicle:

“At 135 and 64 at the Arp bridge, that’s when the subject slammed on her brakes and was trying to exit; what appeared to be exit, off of 64 onto 135, and ended up turning in front of one of the units, one of my patrol units, clipped them in the rear and ended the pursuit at that point,” Price said.

Although aided by the county, the pursuit began in Henderson, according to Henderson Police Detective Eric Sullivan.

“We had an individual that had assaulted a family member. When the officers arrived on scene the suspect was in a vehicle belonging to, I believe a family member. The suspect took off and almost hit one of our officers,” Sullivan said.

Vickers went west on FM 13 to Carlisle at Highway 42 where she stopped, but not for long.

“I know that one of the PD cars was damaged at the intersection there at 42 and 13 when they actually got her stopped for a moment. And then she ended up backing up and ramming into one of their cars and then fleeing that scene,” Price said.

Dash cam from the Henderson Police Department shows just that. Shortly Vickers went west on Highway 64.

“From the time that my officers got involved in it. Looks like we were dealing with about 13 minutes,” Price said.

“Two of our vehicles were damaged at the time of that pursuit, and also two vehicles from the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office were damaged,” Sullivan said.

Price thinks one is likely totaled. The impact knocked the camper shell off the stolen pickup, as seen in the dash cam video from Henderson Police Department.

Law enforcement says Vickers did not run on foot and was taken in to custody.

Police say their officers were not injured. Price said the deputy involved in the wreck was checked out at a hospital and released. Vickers has not yet been arraigned.

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Sonja Vickers, 55, of Henderson has been arrested in connection with a pursuit early Friday morning, and is in the custody of the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office.

Henderson Police report Vickers is being charged with 2 counts of aggravated assault on a public servant, aggravated assault, burglary, and aggravated robbery.

According to the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office, the crash-ending to the chase happened at the intersection of Highway 64 West and the Highway 135 bridge in Smith County.

The vehicle Vickers was driving is believed to be stolen.

Vickers was taken into custody after allegedly intentionally ramming one Rusk County Sheriff patrol unit, one Rusk County Sheriff truck, and two Henderson Police vehicles. Sheriff’s officials said deputies from Henderson and Rusk counties were involved in the pursuit.

Henderson Police report no officers were injured in the incident.

Det. Eric Sullivan with the Henderson Police Department said that the initial call came in as an aggravated assault against a family member. He added that the suspect fled when police arrived at the scene.

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