Police: woman driving wrong way on highway had medical condition

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. (WALA) - WRONG-WAY DRIVER

A woman who drove the wrong way while officers tried desperately to get her attention made for a frightening scene on Perdido Beach Blvd., also known as beach highway, in Orange Beach on Tuesday.

“I knew there was an issue when the officer got behind the driver and there was no response. He was doing everything he could do to get that person's attention,” Ron Kutter told us.

Kutter was following the low-speed chase and recording near-miss after near-miss.

“I followed it for a least a mile, and I knew there was going to be a bad ending,” he said.

HEAD-ON TO STOP

The chase continued for a while but the woman was approaching the biggest intersection in town, where beach highway meets Highway 161, and officers knew she had to be stopped quickly.

In a gutsy call, a pair of officers drove directly into her path and they hit the vehicle head on.

“There were no other options. Either they stopped that car or it was going into that intersection,” Kutter said.

Orange Beach Assistant Police Chief Greg Duck said the officers did what they have been trained to do.

“They have to do things in a split second sometimes and they did everything by procedure,” Assistant Chief Duck said.

“Those officers were quick to jump out, shut off the vehicle and attend to the lady right away. These guys were unselfish and they weren’t thinking about themselves, but that woman in that car,” Kutter said.

The police believe the woman’s confusion was caused by a medical situation and no charges are expected.