Woman With 3 Kids in Car Leads Police on Chase

A woman in a car with her three children led police on a chase on the inner loop of the Capital Beltway in Prince George's County yesterday morning, reaching speeds of more than 90 mph before officers surrounded her and forced her to stop, authorities said.

The woman's mother called police about 8 a.m. to express concern that she had been acting "very erratically," said Steve Walker, police chief of the town of Edmonston. The mother told police she was concerned for her grandchildren's safety.

At some point, the woman picked up her children -- ages 7, 8, and 9 -- from a county elementary school, officials said. She spoke by telephone to her mother, who directed officers to a fast-food restaurant in the Riverdale area.

Walker spotted the woman in the parking lot. "She took off," he said.

Walker pursued her onto the Baltimore-Washington Parkway northbound and then, as county police officers joined in, onto the Beltway. Near the Arena Drive exit, officers boxed in her car and forced her to the side of the road, Walker said.

Police talked with the woman's family yesterday about her getting a medical evaluation. She had not been charged last night, and police did not release her name.