“What’s your problem?” as Esther Paragulla gets arrested for doing 110mph during turnpike chase
By: A woman accused of leading State Troopers on a half-hour chase reaching 110 mph through Trumbull and Portage Counties is scheduled to go on trial in September on criminal charges.
21 News has obtained Ohio State Highway Patrol dashcam and bodycam video from the June 29 pursuit of a car along the Ohio Turnpike from Braceville to Hudson.
Trooper Rick Caraway tells 21 News that the car sped away when he tried to pull over a Nissan Maxima doing 90 in a 70 mph stretch of the turnpike in Braceville.
Other Troopers joined the chase, which went on for more than 33 miles, even though the car’s tires were flattened when it drove over spiked strips placed by the patrol.
The car appeared to pull over twice when boxed in, only to speed away again as the Troopers exited their cruisers. One of the Troopers said he was nearly struck by the car.
Thirty-five minutes after the chase began, Patrol cruisers surrounded the car, stopping it.
With guns drawn, Troopers pulled a passenger from the car after smashing a window when he refused to get out.
The driver, 33-year-old Esther Paragulla of Edison, New Jersey, was being handcuffed and read her rights when she asked the Trooper “What’s your problem?”
The Portage County Grand Jury has indicted Paragulla on charges of felonious assault, failure to comply with a police order, and obstructing official business.