The woman who led cops on a ‘marathon’ 110 mph car chase before driving into the ocean and abandoning her two dogs in her sinking BMW, was jailed Wednesday by a judge who referred her case to a mental health court in Los Angeles.
But Jessica Reynolds’s stay behind bars will only last until family or friends post the $50,000 bail set by LA Superior Court Judge Rob Villeza to secure her freedom until her next court appearance in two weeks.
Reynolds, 39, whose attorney described the bizarre incident as a ‘psychotic episode’, was videotaped by horrified beachgoers March 16 as she raced her silver BMW SUV over the sand and into the Pacific Ocean at Venice Beach.
She then jumped out of the car and plunged into the chilly waves, leaving her two small Boston terriers – Rebel and Jewel – inside.
In a scene that looked like a Hollywood action movie, she swam ‘several hundred yards’ before being rescued by a Los Angeles Sheriff’s boat and after being brought back to shore, she was arrested, taken to a hospital and placed on a psychiatric hold.
Jessica Reynolds, the woman who led cops on a ‘marathon’ 110 mph car chase before driving into the ocean and abandoning her two dogs in her sinking BMW, was jailed Wednesday by a judge who referred her case to a mental health court in Los Angeles
Reynolds, 39, whose attorney described the bizarre incident as a ‘psychotic episode’, was videotaped by horrified beachgoers March 16 as she raced her silver BMW SUV over the sand and into the Pacific Ocean at Venice Beach
In a scene that looked like a Hollywood action movie, she swam ‘several hundred yards’ before being rescued by a Los Angeles Sheriff’s boat and after being brought back to shore, she was arrested, taken to a hospital and placed on a psychiatric hold
Video footage showed the dramatic moment authorities approached the submerged vehicle holding flashlights while looking for any other passengers, only to find the two terrified dogs, which were rescued and handed over to Animal Control.
Last month Reynolds was charged with one felony count of evading police while disregarding safety and two of animal cruelty. She could face up to three years in prison if convicted.
On Wednesday, at her arraignment in El Monte, 15 miles east of LA, redhead Reynolds – dressed in a cream blouse with black polka dots, black skin-tight pants and black high heels – pleaded not guilty to all three charges.
But Judge Villeza set aside her arraignment and not guilty pleas, suspended ‘all criminal proceedings’ and ordered her to appear July 10 at Hollywood Mental Health Court after hearing that Reynolds has ‘serious’ and ‘unpredictable’ mental health issues that require ‘further evaluation.’
Before Reynolds was handcuffed and led away to jail to await her bail posting, her attorney, Alan Gonzalez, told the court, ’She was having a psychotic episode.
’She did drive her car into the ocean. You can interpret this as a cry for help. No-one was injured….and the dogs were rescued.’
Gonzalez said that before the incident, Reynolds had been in a ‘toxic relationship’ involving drugs and she had gone through a divorce in which she had lost custody of her child.
But since March 16, she’s been on medication, he added. She’s also moved to Oregon where she checked herself into a Christian residential rehab facility and has a $22-an-hour job at a warehouse.
During the wild police chase, Reynolds jumped out of the car and plunged into the chilly waves, leaving her two small Boston terriers – Rebel and Jewel – inside. They were taken in by Animal Control
The dogs were rescued by first responders at the scene after the 'marathon' police chase ended with Reynold's BMW plunging into the ocean with the pets still inside
Video footage showed the dramatic moment authorities approached the submerged vehicle holding flashlights while looking for any other passengers, only to find the two terrified dogs, which were rescued and handed over to Animal Control
Prosecutor Larry Holcomb asked for Reynolds’ bail to be set at $225,000, which Gonzalez called an ‘extraordinarily harsh financial burden’. And he said, ’She does not present a flight risk.’
Judge Villeza took issue with that statement after hearing from Holcomb that during her 40-mile plus flight from police, Reynold drove at ‘100mph and 110mph’ on several freeways before crashing into the ocean.
’Saying she is not a flight risk is contrary to the facts,’ said the judge who called prosecutors’ accusations ‘egregious and severe.’
’She led police on a marathon pursuit.’
Judge Villeza decided to set Reynolds’ bail at $50,000 and send her case to Hollywood Mental Health Court after reading reports on her mental condition sent to court by the Oregon rehab facility she has been living at.
He ordered those reports to be sealed.
The wacky series of events that led to Reynolds’s arrest started late at night on March 15 in El Monte where police tried to pull her over for speeding.
Instead of stopping, cops say Reynolds – who has multiple recent convictions for speeding and fleeing police in her native New Mexico, DailyMail.com has found – took off.
Heading west she eventually hit Washington Boulevard in Venice, which dead-ends near the Venice pier, and drove straight into the ocean just a couple of minutes after midnight.
Last month Reynolds was charged with one felony count of evading police while disregarding safety and two of cruelty to an animal. She could face up to three years in prison if convicted
’She led police on a marathon pursuit', Judge Villeza said of the crazed incident
Reynolds was taken from the scene in an ambulance. Judge Villeza decided to set her bail at $50,000 and send her case to Hollywood Mental Health Court after reading reports on her mental condition sent to court by the Oregon rehab facility she has been living at
After opening the driver's door Reynolds frantically tried to swim away from cops till the rescue boat tossed her a flotation donut which she was able to grab to get aboard safely.
The rescuers managed to save the two year-old Boston Terriers before the SUV was dragged away by the current, according to a police report.
The next morning, beachgoers unaware of the incident arrived to find a car being towed from the water up onto the land.
The front window was shattered and mounds of sand could be seen in the front and back seat. Skid marks in the sand could also be seen.
When DailyMail.com spoke to Reynolds’s ex-husband, Michael Hufstedler, 44, he revealed that just last July, the two had finalized a messy, long-drawn-out divorce in which he was awarded sole custody of their 12-year-old son.
'We were totally in love. I thought I'd found the woman of my life,' said Hufstedler, who used to run a real estate appraisal firm with Reynolds in Alto, New Mexico.
'She cheated on me with one of the people that worked for me. Then she threatened to commit suicide. I live in a different state now, I've retreated totally.'
Hufstedler added that the two dogs involved in the incident are his though there was no mention of who should keep the animals after the divorce.
The wacky series of events that led to Reynolds’s arrest started late at night on March 15 in El Monte where police tried to pull her over for speeding
The rescuers managed to save the two year-old Boston Terriers before the SUV was dragged away by the current, according to a police report
Before Reynolds was handcuffed and led away to jail to await her bail posting, her attorney, Alan Gonzalez, told the court Wednesday, ’She was having a psychotic episode'.
As for Reynolds’s prior run-ins with the law in New Mexico, in October 2019 she pleaded no contest to a criminal speeding charge of more than 30mph over the limit. The case was deferred and dismissed, according to court records.
She pleaded no contest to a September 2020 charge of resisting an officer, which was again deferred and dismissed – though the court later issued a warrant for her arrest after she failed to pay her fine and fees.
Reynolds pleaded guilty to speeding 16-20 mph over the limit, with no proof of insurance in November last year. Again, the charges were deferred and dismissed.
Another warrant was issued in December last year after she failed to show up for a court hearing, but by January she had met all her legal obligations, according to the docket.
Reynolds was also charged last November with careless driving and 'leaving the scene of an accident involving damage to a vehicle'. But according to court records, she has not yet entered a plea in that case.
