DPS stops driver who sped through I-17 construction closures in Phoenix

PHOENIX – State troopers in Phoenix chased down a woman who sped through two construction-zone closures, clipped a worker and almost hit an officer.

Arizona Department of Public Safety patrol officers stopped Lisa Ayala, 24, near Interstate 17 and Cactus Road early Sunday, after they used a pursuit tactic to bring her car to a halt.

Ayala was booked into jail on counts of extreme DUI, aggravated assault, endangerment and criminal damage, DPS said.

Pursuit began around 12:35 a.m. at a construction site on northbound I-17 near Peoria Avenue.

DPS was at the scene investigating a collision when a 2022 Toyota Camry went through the construction closure and nearly struck a patrol officer and a parked patrol vehicle. The car sped away northbound.

Troopers tried to stop the car, but Ayala kept driving, they said.

Officers successfully deployed the PIT (precision immobilization technique) maneuver, which forced Ayala’s car to abruptly turn 180 degrees, stall and stop, after she went through another construction area with workers.

DPS said they learned that a worker had been struck by a side mirror on Ayala’s car earlier as she got onto the freeway at the closed Dunlap Avenue ramp.

The worker was not seriously injured.

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