Woman suspected of ramming stolen car into police vehicles arrested outside Costa Mesa Target

A 29-year-old woman was arrested Wednesday after allegedly ramming a stolen car into two law enforcement vehicles in Costa Mesa during an episode that also led to a separate collision involving a police sergeant, officials reported.

Destiny Hope Sherer, of Huntington Beach, was detained and booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and vehicle theft, after being located in the same Target shopping complex on Harbor Boulevard where she’d abandoned the vehicle, Costa Mesa Police Department reported.

Department spokeswoman Roxi Fyad said Thursday the station received a call at 12:45 p.m. indicating a suspect driving a stolen Audi wagon had crashed the vehicle into police vehicles and fled the scene. The driver was said to be located on the 3200 block of Harbor Boulevard.

A Costa Mesa Traffic Safety Bureau sergeant on motorcycle was the first to arrive at the scene but was involved in a crash with another vehicle near the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Nutmeg Place, Fyad said. He received minor injuries in that incident, which is being investigated separately by the California Highway Patrol.

Other responding officers located the abandoned Audi at Costa Mesa Shopping Square, where the Target is located, and set up a perimeter in an attempt to find the driver. They eventually narrowed their search to a store, where Sherer was located and arrested without incident.

An online inmate locator maintained by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department indicated Sherer was in custody Thursday and scheduled to appear in court Friday.

Orange County Superior Court records show Sherer was previously charged in July 2023 on one felony count of the unlawful taking of a vehicle, along with misdemeanor charges related to possessing a controlled substance for sale and possession of drug paraphernalia. Records also show other misdemeanor incidents involving drug possession and providing false evidence to police later in 2023.