CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / SANTA ANA

A high-speed chase Friday morning involving a woman suspected of driving under the influence while carrying an 18-month-old girl in the back seat ended when she was shot and killed by a Santa Ana police officer, authorities said.

The woman, who at times was driving at speeds of more than 100 mph and rammed into police cruisers, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The girl in the back seat was unharmed and taken to Orangewood Children’s Home, said Cmdr. Tammy Franks of the Santa Ana Police Department.

The relationship between the woman and the child was unknown, Franks said. The matter is under investigation by the department and district attorney’s office.

The pursuit began in Buena Park about 12:30 a.m. when an officer saw a woman driving a four-door Toyota commit “two moving violations,” said Sgt. William Kohanek of the Buena Park Police Department.

The officer suspected that the woman was under the influence and attempted to stop her but she ignored his direction, Kohanek said. The woman led officers on freeways and surface streets through several cities, including Anaheim, Fullerton, Tustin and Santa Ana, and other police agencies assisted in the pursuit.

The woman stopped her car several times before continuing to flee, authorities said. Buena Park officers attempted a pit maneuver to stall the vehicle, but failed. The woman then began ramming into two Buena Park police cruisers, Kohanek said.

At one point, the woman entered the southbound 5 Freeway at Magnolia Avenue in Buena Park and traveled about 13 miles to Tustin Ranch Road in Tustin at speeds of up to 110 mph, authorities said.

She then continued onto city streets, driving into Santa Ana, Franks said. A second maneuver forced the car onto the sidewalk in the 1900 block of Grand Avenue, near East 17th Street, where the pursuit ended about 1 a.m. As officers blocked the street, the officer-involved shooting occurred, Franks said.

-- Ruben Vives