Woman who tried to outrun the law sentenced

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Celeste Virga

A Mountain Home woman who is alleged to have stolen a vehicle and then tried to outrun law officers appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.

Thirty-two-year-old Celeste Elizabeth Virga entered a guilty plea to charges of entering a home, taking the keys to a vehicle and driving it away.In addition, a number of traffic violations were filed against her, including driving while intoxicated.

She was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay $3,250 in restitution.

During the time she had possession of the stolen 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe, she was involved in a pursuit after refusing to stop for a Baxter County sheriff’s deputy

According to the probable cause affidavit, a man called the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office Aug. 14, 2019 and reported he was following his stolen vehicle and gave information as to his location.

A deputy sheriff responding to the call spotted the vehicle being driven at a high rate of speed on Highway 62B and gave chase.

The driver, later identified as Virga, would not stop and began passing other vehicles using the middle turn lanes of the highway.

The pursuit continued until Virga eventually turned into a dead end street. The Hyundai SUV then ran over a stop sign and traveled into the yard of a residence where it came to a stop.

Virga was reported to have bolted from the vehicle and fled on foot. The deputy reported he pursued her, and after a short distance, she stopped, put her hands up and surrendered.

During her initial interview at the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, Virga said she had been using a Vape-Pen containing THC, the main psychoactive compound in marijuana.

She told investigators she had been using the Vape-Pen shortly before the pursuit began.

Virga is alleged to have claimed at one point she found the stolen SUV unoccupied and took it.

During one court appearance, Virga claimed she had a stroke at some point during the incident and could not remember details of the events leading to her arrest.

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