CHEYENNE — A 28-year-old woman is accused of trying to run down her ex-boyfriend in a wild street chase that ended after police say she intentionally crashed into his car twice.
Jordan Semien made her initial appearance in Laramie County Circuit Court on Wednesday, where she was charged with felony aggravated assault and battery, reckless driving, and violating a protection order, according to charging documents filed in her case.
It’s the third time in a month that she’s accused of violating a Colorado-issued protection order to stay away from her former boyfriend.
She also was arrested for allegedly violating the order on Feb. 2 and Feb. 8, court documents show, both times at his Cheyenne apartment, which is where this latest contact also started.
The Chase Begins
The confrontation began Monday evening when the ex-boyfriend returned home to find Semien blocking the entrance to his apartment and apparently waiting for him, Cheyenne Police Officer Lucas Bray writes in an affidavit of probable cause filed in Semien’s case.
The man “stated he had a protection order against Semien and that she had been stalking him,” according to the affidavit. “(He) explained that he had returned home and that Semien’s vehicle was blocking him in the parking lot.”
He was able to maneuver around her car and leave, but Semien followed and began chasing him westbound on East 12th Street in Cheyenne, Bray wrote.
That’s when a dangerous pursuit ensued, finally ending after Semien had allegedly crashed into her ex-boyfriend’s car twice — forcing him to take out a stop sign — and then tried to break out a car window and open his door, the affidavit says.
“Semien began speeding after him, going west on East 12th Street, and Semien crashed her vehicle into the right side of (his) vehicle, forcing him off the road and striking a stop sign,” Bray wrote.
“Semien then pulled next to (his) vehicle and began slamming on the window and attempting to open the door,” the affidavit continues.
Believing the window was going to break, the ex-boyfriend started driving again to get away from her, this time south on Madison Avenue, but she followed.
“Semien then followed (him) south and struck the left side of his vehicle, causing him to spin out in the road,” the affidavit says.
That’s when she finally broke off her pursuit and fled the scene in her car.
At the intersection of East 12th Street and Madison Avenue on Wednesday, a temporary stop sign had been put up and debris from the crash was still in the street near the corner.
Video And A Witness
By the time police arrived, Semien had come back and was arguing with someone in the street.
When she saw Officer Bray pull up, Semien “attempted to leave after seeing my patrol vehicle,” he wrote in the affidavit.
She admitted that she and her ex “had been arguing and both began driving recklessly,” the affidavit continues. However, she also said that “she did not know it was (her ex) in the vehicle but admitted to hitting his vehicle at the intersection.”
Security video at the intersection of East 12th Street and Madison Avenue seems to support the ex-boyfriend’s account, the affidavit says.
It shows his vehicle going off the road and taking out the stop sign, then Semien’s vehicle pulling up. It also shows her banging on the window and trying to open his car door before the vehicles took off again.
“A witness driving east on East 12th Street reported seeing both vehicles speeding when the trailing vehicle (Semien’s) pulled to the right of the front vehicle, and (his) went off the road and through the stop sign,” according to the affidavit.
Her vehicle was located two blocks west with heavy front-end damage.
Semien remains at the Laramie County Detention Center, and if convicted of aggravated assault and battery could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
Reckless driving and violation of a protection order are both misdemeanors punishable by up to six months in prison and/or a $750 fine.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
