CALABASAS : Police Say Suspect Commandeered Car

A Los Angeles woman was arrested Thursday on suspicion of attempted murder after allegedly commandeering a sheriff’s patrol car while handcuffed and then striking two sheriff’s deputies as they tried to hang on to the vehicle, authorities said.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies recaptured Melanie T. Boyle, 33, after she was spotted running along Topanga Canyon Boulevard nearly five hours after driving away in the stolen patrol car, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Noel Lanier.

The two deputies, whose identities were not released, suffered bruises and were treated at and released from West Hills Regional Medical Center.

The incident started shortly after 2 a.m., when the two deputies approached Boyle and Bruce Michael Tuttle, 25, of Oxnard, who were sitting in a parked car near the intersection of Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Summit to Summit Motorway.

After spotting open containers of alcohol, the deputies handcuffed Boyle and Tuttle, and put Tuttle in the back seat of the patrol car. Boyle was left standing outside while the deputies continued to search the car, where a small amount of narcotics was found, Lanier said.

Boyle then slid behind the wheel, stepped on the gas and allegedly struck the deputies as they tried hanging on to the fleeing car. Left stranded, the deputies called for help. A search was conducted with help from the Los Angeles Police Department and the California Highway Patrol, Lanier said.

Within an hour, deputies found Tuttle and the patrol car about a mile away. Tuttle, arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, is being held on $5,000 bail.

Boyle, who also faces charges of grand theft auto and possession of a controlled substance, is being held on $525,000 bail, Lanier said.