Huntington police: Woman arrested after she led law enforcement on multi-county chase

HUNTINGTON, Texas (KTRE) - A 30-year-old woman led law enforcement on a high-speed chase that passed through three different counties Sunday after a Huntington police officer tried to stop her for speeding.

At times, the woman’s vehicle allegedly got up to speeds of more than 100 mph.

Karianna Gabrielle Nowman, of Lufkin, is still being held in the Angelina County jail on a state-jail felony evading arrest with a vehicle charge. Her bond amount has been set at $50,000.

“She didn’t have any warrants, so I don’t know why she would even think about running like she did,” said Chief Bobby Epperly with the Huntington Police Department. “I told her that if she had stopped, the officer might have just given her tickets for no driver’s license and speeding and let her go on her way.”

Epperly said one of his officers tried to stop Nowman’s silver Mustang on U.S. Highway 69 at about 7 p.m. on Sunday. He added that the Huntington officer clocked Nowman as going 79 mph in a 50-mph zone.

Nowman allegedly fled after the officer turned on his lights and siren in an attempt to get her to pull over. During the chase, Nowman headed down to Zavalla, where she turned onto State Highway 63 and headed toward Jasper.

At that point, Jasper County Sheriff’s Office deputies and a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper joined the chase, Epperly said. Nowman allegedly led law enforcement down some back roads before she got back on Highway 63 and drove into Jasper. Angelina County Sheriff’s Office deputies also assisted in the chase.

During the chase, Nowland’s Mustang got up to speeds of 100 mph or more, and law enforcement officers tried to stop her with tire spikes at one point. However, it appeared that Nowman drove around the spikes, Epperly said.

Nowman then turned onto U.S. Highway 190 and headed toward Newton, Epperly said. The Huntington police chief said that someone with the Newton County Sheriff’s Office or a DPS trooper shot out one of Nowman’s tires, and she drove on her rim for a while until she stopped on State Highway 87 inside the Newton City limits.

After Nowman surrendered to law enforcement officers, she was taken to the Angelina County Jail.

Epperly said that he saw bits and pieces of the Facebook Live video that Nowman apparently shot during the car chase.

A video on what appears to be her personal Facebook page shows a woman that looks like Nowman before it switches to her point of view as she is driving. Every once in a while, flashing red and blue lights can be seen in her rearview mirror.

Epperly said that he told Nowman that as soon as she got settled in at the jail, they would see about letting her use a phone, so she could tell her family and friends what had happened.

“She said, ‘They probably already know,'” Epperly said.