Woman had malnourished dogs in car turned over to Animal Control

An Alabama woman was jailed after a chase that began as a traffic stop for going too slow on Highway 278 ended with the woman pulled from the car while it was still moving and taken into custody on multiple charges.

Ellen Marie Smallwood, 62, of a Birmingham-area address, was later released from the Polk County Jail on an $8,000 bond on multiple charges during the Thursday, March 28 incident.

Per a Polk County Police report, Smallwood was driving on Highway 278 going 25 mph in a 65 mph zone and causing near-miss wrecks while traveling in the left lane when spotted by police just after 5 a.m.

The report stated that the officer attempted to pull over Smallwood on McCown Road, but she continued on and went upward of 50 mph on the roadway, and then dipped down in speeds in the single digits and teens by the time she got to Grady Road.

The reporting officer finally got to Smallwood’s car on foot and pulled her out, and noted that as she was being removed from the car it was still moving and ran into the back of another patrol vehicle. The officer also reported having his ankle run over during the incident.

Per the report, officers took her into custody and later onward to jail where they attempted to submit Smallwood to sobriety tests but she was unable to perform them. They did retrieve a blood sample for evidence.

Back at the scene where her car finally stopped, officers took note of two malnourished dogs within the car that were taken to animal control.

The report noted that one of the dogs had hair so matted “it could barely see.”

Smallwood was jailed until today following her arrest on Thursday morning. She was booked on a felony charge of fleeing or attempting to elude police, and misdemeanor charges of DUI – less safe – drugs, failure to yield for authorized emergency vehicle, failure to maintain lane, impeding the free flow of traffic and cruelty to animals.