West Allis police chase; foot pursuit in Mayfair Mall parking lot, woman charged
Hailey Payney
WEST ALLIS, Wis. - A Milwaukee woman has been criminally charged, accused of leading West Allis police on a pursuit on Sunday, Dec. 1.
24-year-old Hailey Payney has been charged with the following:
- Operating a motor vehicle to flee or in an attempt to elude an officer
- Second degree recklessly endangering safety
- Operating a motor vehicle while under the influence - 2nd offense
- Operating a motor vehicle while revoked
- Obstructing an officer
Case details
According to the criminal complaint, at approximately 2:15 a.m. on Dec. 1, officers responded to the area of 92nd and Orchard for the report of a woman, later identified as Hailey Payney, in a black Honda intentionally crashing into the caller’s Chevrolet Impala.
When police arrived at the scene, they observed both vehicles stopped at the intersection of W. Greenfield Avenue and South 92nd Street. Per the complaint, the Impala pulled to the left shoulder, while the Honda, which had its headlights turned off, accelerated away from the squad on W. Greenfield Avenue, entered I-894 and then accelerated to approximately 100 mph.
The officer activated his squad’s siren and pursued the Honda. During the ensuing pursuit, which spanned 4.1 miles and reached a top speed of 103 mph, some of the Honda’s reckless driving included the following, according to the complaint:
- Driving at reckless speeds while exiting the freeway at Mayfair Road, losing control and crashing into the guardrail, then spinning around and facing the wrong way.
- Passing other motorists while traveling approximately 70 mph through the intersection of North Mayfair Road and West Bluemound Round.
- Traveling over 100 mph while running a red light at North Mayfair Road and West Watertown Plank Road.
Per the complaint, Payney ran over stop sticks and became disabled in the area of MayFair Road and North Avenue. After the Honda came to a stop, Payney exited the driver’s seat and began running through the Mayfair Mall parking lot.
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An officer drove his squad alongside the foot pursuit and was able to exit his squad and take the defendant into custody.
In custody
During a search of the Honda, officers found a half-empty liquor bottle and a purse that contained two bags of suspected marijuana and a stun gun. Additionally, a one-hitter pipe was found in the trunk. The suspected marijuana, which weighed 3.9 grams, was later field tested and was positive for THC.
At the West Allis Police Department, the complaint states that Payney had slurred speech and a strong odor of alcohol coming from her breath. She submitted to a PBT and blew a .142.
Officers later spoke with the driver of the Chevrolet Impala. He stated that Payney was his friend and that they had an argument over jealousy issues at his residence earlier that morning. He claims he put Payney's belongings in her vehicle, and she began yelling at him that she was going to slash his tires, according to the complaint. The man told police Payney then got into her vehicle and backed up into his Impala while he was inside it.
During an interview with police, Payney stated that she had been at Savory Bar in Milwaukee with her boyfriend, who became upset with her after another man bought her a drink, which she consumed. She claims the boyfriend told her to drive to his residence to grab her things and leave.
Payney stated that she had approximately three alcoholic drinks at the bar before they left in their separate vehicles. Once at her boyfriend's residence, he took her things outside and placed them in her passenger seat, and they both started driving away in their separate vehicles, court filings say.
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Payney stated that she believed the boyfriend set her up by calling the police on her.
Payney told investigators she got scared and was upset that he called the police on her, and that after seeing the emergency lights of the squad, she did not fully understand she was being pulled over. Payney stated that she then intentionally fled officers because she was scared, knew she did not have a license, and should not have been driving.
Online records show that on the date and time of this incident, Payney's driving privilege was revoked due to an OWI.