Woman on pre-trial release charged with fleeing from officer after driving away with parking boot

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Tia Misel Cooks, 32, was arrested yesterday after she allegedly drove away with a parking boot attached to her car, damaging the boot, and then fled from an officer who tried to conduct a traffic stop.

At about 3:29 p.m. on January 9, a Gainesville Police Department officer was flagged down by a tow truck driver who had placed a parking boot on a white Toyota Corolla because it was parked in a tow-away zone in the 200 block of SW 2nd Avenue; the tow truck driver said the driver of the car drove away and broke the boot.

An officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the Corolla in the 100 block of SW 6th Street, but he terminated the pursuit when the car’s driver failed to stop.

Multiple calls were reportedly received a short time later about a white Corolla driving at a high rate of speed and crossing a double yellow line to pass other vehicles.

Officers reportedly found the Corolla at NW 73rd Avenue and NW 49th Street, and the car pulled over; the tow truck driver reportedly identified the driver, Cooks, as the person who had driven away with the parking boot on her car.

Cooks reportedly told an officer that she had returned to exchange words with the tow truck driver before leaving the downtown area, and she showed the officer a video of the conversation; she said she left the area after that.

Cooks reportedly admitted to an officer that she had fled from the traffic stop because she “felt like she did not need to stop because she did not do anything.” She also reportedly said nobody else drove the Corolla that day.

Cooks has been charged with fleeing from a police officer and misdemeanor property damage. She has no criminal convictions, but she is on pre-trial release on charges of property damage and trespassing after a warning. Judge Donna Keim set bail at $11,000.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.