Police: Woman exceeds 110 mph during Altoona chase

A woman exceeded speeds of 110 mph in a 45 mph zone while eluding Altoona police Friday night, according to an incident report.

An officer tried to pull over Belladonna Melissa Guirgis, 36, of Des Moines for speeding around 8:34 p.m. Friday in the 200 block of Prairie Meadows Drive North in Altoona when she sped off and drove into oncoming traffic, according to an Altoona Police report attached to online court records.

Despite the officer's emergency lights and sirens being displayed, Guirgis continued onto Broadway Avenue from Hubbell Avenue, where the report states that she ran a red light and almost hit a vehicle.

Guirgis then stopped at a residence and began to run. Police took her into custody inside a home, and later found a plastic bag of marijuana in a backpack in the red 2005 Dodge Neon that she had been driving.

She was booked into the Polk County Jail on Friday and charged with eluding, a Class D Felony, along with marijuana possession, speeding and driving on the wrong side of a two-way highway.

She admitted to an officer that she knew the drugs were in the backpack, according to the report.

She is being held cash or surety bond totaling $7,390.

A North Dakota arrest warrant was also active for Guirgis, court records show.