Woman charged in wild police chase in Detroit, Hamtramck waives prelim

Valerie Matthews faces fleeing and eluding charge

DETROIT – Valerie Mathews waived her preliminary examination hearing Wednesday morning for a third-degree fleeing and eluding charge. 

The 28-year-old Sterling Heights woman is accused of leading police on a wild chase April 4 through Detroit's east side and the streets of Hamtramck for about 25 miles.

Police chased the dark blue van across yards and through tight neighborhood streets. The driver eluded police vehicles until finally bailing on foot near I-75 and Caniff in Hamtramck. 

She did not get far on foot as Hamtramck police officer Nikole Jabour tackled her against a fence. Mathews was arrested and charged. 

Bond was set at $50,000 and if she posts bond, she'll have to wear a GPS tether. Judge Deborah Lewis Langston said Wednesday bond would remain in place. Waiving the preliminary hearing paves the way for Mathews to either plead guilty or go to trial. 

VIDEO: Woman tackled by officers after police chase

Mathews under investigation for alleged role in teen's death

Local 4 learned Mathews was being investigated for her alleged role in the death of a 19-year-old Port Huron woman. Meagan Margarette Williams' body had been dumped in the lot days earlier as her family frantically searched for their missing daughter.

Sources told Local 4 that Williams might have been saved if the person who dumped her body had taken to her a hospital or police station. But instead, police suspect Mathews dumped Williams' body and ran.

Mathews calls herself "VL BADD." Sources said Mathews texted her friends that she had dumped the teen's body. Word eventually got back to Sterling Heights investigators. When they found Mathews, she led them to the body, sources said.

Mathews has been under investigation for the dumping of Williams' body ever since, and that's why she desperately tried to escape from police officers earlier this week, sources said.

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