GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — A woman was taken to the hospital after Gastonia police said she hit multiple cars and a fire hydrant Thursday afternoon.
It happened around 4:40 p.m. on East Ozark Avenue at North New Hope Road. Gastonia police told Channel 9 that they were responding to a call about a careless and reckless driver.
As officers arrived at the scene, a woman driver hit two police cars and two civilian cars before she struck a guy-wire and fire hydrant, went down about a 12-foot embankment and her vehicle flipped over, police said.
- CLICK PLAY: Watch raw video of the crash
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Police said when they asked the woman her name, she replied, “faith, hope and love.”
"I thought she was going to get somebody killed or get herself killed," one witness said.
No one was injured in the crash, which is still under investigation.
The officers that were involved are patrol officer Casey Justice and traffic officer Lex Popovich
The woman was taken to CaroMont Regional Medical Center to be checked out.
On Friday, police said the woman could face up to six charges, which include two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a government official, one count of assault with a deadly weapon and three counts of injury to personal property.
The family of the driver, Debra Lloyd, shared her personal story and insight into what may have led to the chaos.
"She thought she was helping people,” family member Patty Bell said. “She thought she was doing the right thing."
Lloyd's closest family members said minutes before the incident, Lloyd passed out apples to needy.
"God rules the world," Lloyd said.
Her family members said she is a devout Christian who stopped taking her medicine for mental disorder and she believed God had cured her.
"That chemical imbalance puts her in a world all her own," her mother Carolyn Black said.
For three days, Lloyd's family members tried to get her involuntarily committed.
They also got help from mental health specialists but the law said she has to be a threat to herself or others first.
"You are thinking with she is going to die or somebody's going to die or somebody's going to get hurt real bad before she gets the help she needs," her sister Billie Jo Bradley said.
Family members apologized to the two police officers and two other people hit by Lloyd.
Family members said now they can get the involuntary commitment to get Lloyd the help she needs.
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