A 42-year-old woman accused of fleeing from law enforcement in a stolen car was arrested by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office after she abandoned the vehicle and attempted to hide in the woods.
On Saturday, September 9, an MCSO deputy was informed that a stolen vehicle had been spotted heading southbound on Highway 441 towards Highway 326. While the deputy was stopped in a patrol car near the 8400 block of N Highway 441, a Toyota sedan matching the stolen vehicle was observed traveling southbound, according to the arrest report from the sheriff’s office.
The deputy caught up to the vehicle and confirmed that it had been reported stolen out of Clay County, and the sole suspect in that theft case was identified in the report as Bonnie Nicole Oriol.
The MCSO report stated that the stolen vehicle entered the parking lot of a gas station located in the 7600 block of N Highway 441. Shortly after the deputy activated the patrol car’s emergency lights, the stolen vehicle continued traveling through the gas station and back onto Highway 441.
The deputy activated the patrol car’s siren, but the stolen vehicle continued traveling southbound and then westbound on Highway 326. The vehicle then accelerated at a high rate of speed, and the deputy briefly lost sight of it, according to the MCSO report.
In the report, the deputy noted that the stolen vehicle was found unoccupied in the 2600 block of NW 77th Street in Ocala, near a limestone mine with numerous “no trespassing” signs. Multiple deputies responded to the area, including a deputy with a K-9 partner, and the K-9 quickly followed a track that led from the stolen vehicle to the southeast part of the mine and into a heavily wooded area.
The MCSO report stated that Oriol was located approximately three-quarters of a mile into the woods, and she immediately surrendered to law enforcement. After being read her Miranda rights, she stated that he was heading back to Jacksonville from St. Petersburg, and she admitted to being aware that the vehicle had been reported stolen two days earlier.
During the post-Miranda interview, Oriol admitted that she fled from the deputy because her driver’s license was suspended. She advised that she “got rid” of the car because “her mother had reported it stolen for some reason,” and she ran away from the vehicle because she did not want to be found with it, according to the MCSO report.
A computer search of Oriol revealed that her driver’s license was suspended indefinitely in January of 2023.
Oriol was arrested and transported to Marion County Jail where she is currently being held on $3,500 bond. She is facing felony charges for fleeing to elude a law enforcement officer and grand theft of a motor vehicle, along with misdemeanor charges for driving with a suspended license, trespassing on property, and resisting an officer without violence.
A court date has been scheduled at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, October 3, according to jail records.