Clay traffic stop sparks 90-mph chase ending in Cortland arrest

A Clay traffic stop turned into a 90-mph chase across Onondaga and Cortland counties before deputies disabled the car near Exit 50 in the Cortland/McGraw area. What began at Route 31 and Soule Road ended with a 27-year-old North Carolina woman in custody after a run that put drivers on Interstate 81 and through several communities before officers stopped it.

Deputies first spotted the car making an illegal U-turn near Route 31 and Soule Road around 3:26 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. on April 29, according to the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office. When deputies tried to stop the vehicle, the driver took off instead of pulling over, turning a routine traffic violation into a fast-moving chase through Clay and onto I-81.

From there, the pursuit went through Syracuse, LaFayette and Tully before crossing into Cortland County. Deputies used stop sticks in Tully to disable the vehicle, a step that helped bring the chase to an end before it could push farther into the region’s road network. Sheriff’s office officials said the driver reached speeds of up to 90 mph before her tires were disabled.

The chase ended near Exit 50 in the Cortland/McGraw area, where the driver was taken into custody. Tom Newton, speaking for the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, identified her as a 27-year-old from North Carolina. She was charged with failure to comply with law enforcement and issued multiple traffic tickets.

New York State Police and the Cortland County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the pursuit, underscoring how quickly a local stop in Clay became a multi-agency, multi-county response. The route carried deputies from an ordinary corridor near Route 31 into a high-speed run that crossed municipal and county lines overnight, a reminder of how a single decision not to stop can put many more drivers at risk before the car is finally brought under control.