76 Year Old Grandmother chased and handcuffed

Pensioned prisoner...Maria Shlepov, 76,
is handcuffed by police on the Hume Highway.

Maria's day out
News.com.au
By BEN SHARKEY
March 8, 2005

IT could have been a scene from Thelma and Louise, if the shackled outlaw hadn't been a 76-year-old pensioner.

Burwood Local Court yesterday heard the bizarre story of how Maria Shlepov led police on a 32km chase along the Hume Highway at Mittagong on December 12 last year.
When the retired milk bar owner from Burwood was finally pulled over, police found a .22 rifle on the passenger seat.
Shlepov, who turned 77 during her day in court yesterday, pleaded guilty to disobeying police directions and driving an unsafe vehicle.
She said the incident had been a mix-up.
The chase began after Shlepov pulled over on the Hume Highway when she experienced difficulty steering her late model Jeep Cherokee near Goulburn.
An NRMA mechanic arrived three hours later and told Shlepov she could not drive her car any further because her tyres were in such a bad state they could blow out.
The court heard Shlepov disagreed. Her car had been serviced two months before and after a short yelling match she jumped back into the 4WD and drove off around 5.10pm.
Police were alerted and the car was spotted as she drove along the Hume Highway, but despite police activating their sirens and lights she failed to stop.
A police patrol car even pulled alongside her car and an officer signalled for her to pull over, but Shlepov, who emigrated from Russia 45 years ago, drove on at up to 95km in wet conditions.
Her solicitor Vivianne Sidhom told the court her client did not realise the police were after her, because she was not speeding and did not think the appearance of the police could have anything to do with her tyres.
"She was scared out of her mind," Ms Sidhom said.
When she was finally persuaded to stop she refused to leave the car, holding her purse with her left hand while desperately clinging to the wheel with her right.
Shlepov had to be dragged from the car and handcuffed. When officers demanded to know why she ignored instructions to stop she told them: "I'm sorry. I did nothing wrong. I did not see you. I did not know you wanted me."
Magistrate Paul Cloran said, while he found it hard to believe Shlepov did not notice the police behind her for the entire 20-minute pursuit, he would give her the benefit of the doubt and dismissed the charge of disobeying police directions.
However, despite Shlepov's claim that she did not believe there was anything wrong with her tyres magistrate Cloran fined her $300 and ordered her to pay $63 in court costs for driving an unsafe vehicle.
There were no charges relating to the unloaded, .22 rifle confiscated by police.
While Shlepov did not get her rifle back she was philosophical when discussing the case outside court.
"I have property at Jindabyne. That is why I have gun. Still I am very happy," she said.