Woman can't remember ramming patrol car in chase
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Though Jessica Lesly allegedly stole a minivan, led Kern County deputies on a high-speed chase, rammed the van into a patrol car and then got shot in the face and bitten by a sheriff's office dog, Lesly maintains she does not remember any of that happening.
In a jailhouse interview Thursday at Lerdo Jail, Lesly said she was walking down Monterey Street near Mt. Vernon Avenue on the night of Sept. 2. A man offered her a ride and she accepted. And she says, she even got behind the wheel.
"I drove his van pretty much all night long. He let me drive it," said the 27-year-old woman.
She said she wanted to go to the truck stop on Highway 58 and Weedpatch Highway where she works as a prostitute. But Lesly says she and the man eventually ended up at California Inn on Wible Road.
That's where investigators say Lesly stole the man's minivan, was later spotted and then refused to stop. She led deputies on a chase through east Bakersfield, reaching speeds of up to 80 mph.
Lesly allegedly rammed a patrol car on Virginia Avenue and backed into a second patrol car. That's when Deputy Layne Rutledge fired his weapon, striking Lesly in the face, just below the left eye.
Lesly drove herself to Kern Medical Center, where she was arrested. But Lesly says she can't recall anything happening.
"I can't remember it, to be honest with you," said Lesly.
Lesly said she had taken methamphetamine, and that it may have possibly affected her memory. She was booked on several felony charges.
In a jailhouse interview Thursday at Lerdo Jail, Lesly said she was walking down Monterey Street near Mt. Vernon Avenue on the night of Sept. 2. A man offered her a ride and she accepted. And she says, she even got behind the wheel.
"I drove his van pretty much all night long. He let me drive it," said the 27-year-old woman.
She said she wanted to go to the truck stop on Highway 58 and Weedpatch Highway where she works as a prostitute. But Lesly says she and the man eventually ended up at California Inn on Wible Road.
That's where investigators say Lesly stole the man's minivan, was later spotted and then refused to stop. She led deputies on a chase through east Bakersfield, reaching speeds of up to 80 mph.
Lesly allegedly rammed a patrol car on Virginia Avenue and backed into a second patrol car. That's when Deputy Layne Rutledge fired his weapon, striking Lesly in the face, just below the left eye.
Lesly drove herself to Kern Medical Center, where she was arrested. But Lesly says she can't recall anything happening.
"I can't remember it, to be honest with you," said Lesly.
Lesly said she had taken methamphetamine, and that it may have possibly affected her memory. She was booked on several felony charges.
