Edmond Chase Suspect Arrested, Accused Of Stalking Ex-Boyfriend

A minor traffic violation turned into a high-speed chase in Edmond last night.

Now, 40 year old Maria Roche is locked up in the county jail. Edmond Police say the pursuit started around 10:30 on Edmond Road, and later Roche was clocked at speeds around 100 MPH.

The chase was temporarily stopped for the safety of other drivers, but officers say they soon found Roche’s vehicle near the intersection of 15th and Kelley Ave.

“Pulled up just a few seconds later and the vehicle was crashed into a fire hydrant,” says Edmond Police Public Information Officer Jennifer Wagnon.

At the time the driver had yet to be identified, and officers say she took off on foot. A K-9 team set-up a perimeter, but it was too late, Roche had slipped away.

Soon, investigators found evidence in the car that identified the driver, and around that time a 911 caller got ahold of dispatch trying to help catch the woman behind the wheel.

Police say that man saw an alert on the News 9 App about the chase, and recognized the vehicle. He said it belonged to his ex-girlfriend.

“That information given to us, matched the information that was also inside the car,” Wagnon says.

That caller gave Roche’s current address and within hours deputies were able to track her down to a home in Logan county. Investigators say she tried to take off took again out the back door, but this time she ended up in cuffs.

Turns out the suspect’s ex-boyfriend reported he though Roche had been stalking him earlier Monday night.

Police pointed us to court records that show Roche has multiple victim protective orders filed against her under her maiden name of Lancaster.

As well as a 2016 guilty plea for a stalking charge out of Oklahoma County.

“She did admit to us the reason she didn't pull over for her traffic violation is she thought that the person she had been stalking, which is what she said, right up before that had called police on her,” Wagnon says.

Roche has been booked on several complaints and police say she'll have to pay for damages to city property, such as the fire hydrant.