A Powell woman is facing a stack of charges after she allegedly drove her vehicle towards a family and then led police on a pair of chases that lasted more than a half-hour.

Jenna H. Carder, 39, has been charged with a felony count of aggravated assault, and seven misdemeanor counts of interference with a peace officer, fleeing or eluding police, speeding, a turning violation and a stop sign violation.

Carder was arrested early Friday morning and remained in custody on Monday, with bail set at $50,000 cash only.

The series of events reportedly began around 10:45 p.m. Charging documents say a woman and her two boys were on the east side of St. Barbara’s Catholic Church’s parking lot off Bent Street when Carder made an obscene gesture and yelled, “F— you,” at the family members.

Carder later returned and pulled into the lot at a high speed, Officer Kevin Bennett wrote in an affidavit. The woman reported that Carder “accelerated directly toward her and her children” before abruptly hitting the brakes and stopping roughly 5 feet away from them, Bennett wrote. The woman said the incident caused her to fear for her safety and the safety of her children, and prosecutors contend that was an aggravated assault.

While the woman was making her report at the police station, Bennett said he saw Carder driving on North Bent Street with sunglasses, then accelerate and run a stop sign.

Bennett tried to get Carder to pull over, but she drove off at 40 miles an hour, the affidavit says. Although she briefly pulled into the parking lot next to the police station, she then continued driving to the south side of town and back despite Bennett deploying his lights and siren.

After about eight minutes, the pursuit was called off, but it resumed when police learned the details of the incident between Carder and the family members. Bennett said he found Carder on North Bernard Street, and she again refused to pull over.

“Carder would at times still stop at stop signs and use her turn signal, but never yielded to my emergency lights and sirens,” Bennett wrote. He said she also made a point of avoiding the other officers who were attempting to stop her.

Eventually, Carder drove over a spike strip police had deployed at East Coulter Avenue/South Bent Street, which brought her vehicle to a stop. They eventually got her out of the vehicle and into custody.

“Sgt. Carpenter advised me at a later time that he asked Carder why didn't she stop and why get in a pursuit as it puts … everyone at risk,” Bennett wrote. “Carder’s response was ‘I don’t know.’”

Carder was already out on a $2,500 bond for two incidents in May.

Early on May 14, Carder was arrested for allegedly driving while under the influence of a controlled substance in Powell. She was then arrested at Washington Park on the evening of May 28, after she allegedly flipped off, cussed at and punched a man who was playing soccer with his son. 

A preliminary hearing in the new case is tentatively set for July 14.