A South Dakota woman who gave a Weston County deputy on a traffic stop the finger while blowing by him at 112 mph faces the potential of more than 50 years in prison.
Sonja Halverson, 38, of Sturgis, South Dakota, also is accused of telling law enforcement to “shoot me” then fighting with officers during her arrest, including twice biting the local undersheriff.
She faces 11 criminal charges, including five counts of felony interfering with a peace officer causing injury. Halverson also faces misdemeanor charges of interference, possession of marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms, attempting to elude, reckless driving, speeding and having an open container of alcohol.
Halverson was bound over to Weston County District Court on Thursday after waiving her preliminary hearing, according to her public-facing court file.
What Halverson may have against law enforcement isn’t addressed in Weston County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Travis Garhart’s affidavit of probable cause, but she caught his attention while he was making an unrelated traffic stop on Highway 85.
“I had my emergency lights activated, and I observed a grey hatchback vehicle pass me at an extremely high rate of speed traveling northbound,” Garhart wrote.
“As the vehicle passed me, I could see the driver holding their middle finger up at me through the driver window,” he added. “I immediately concluded the traffic stop and turned around to catch up with the vehicle.”
The Chase
It took about two miles for Garhart to catch up with Halverson’s car, and in the meantime, he clocked her on radar driving 112 mph, the affidavit says.
He radioed ahead to Newcastle police expecting Halverson to continue fleeing from law enforcement as she was heading toward the town.
“I figured this was going to turn into a pursuit,” Garhart wrote. “I activated my emergency lights and siren and attempted to stop the vehicle. The driver, at this point, refused to stop the vehicle.”
Unable to outrun Garhart, Halverson tried several times to brake hard to get away, causing him to “slam on mine and veer off to the right.”
“As we got to mile marker 228 and approaching Newcastle, the driver got up to a speed of 115 mph,” the affidavit says. “Once we got to the four-way intersection in Newcastle, she failed to stop at the stop sign and drove through it.”
The chase finally came to a stop when another deputy punctured one of her tires with spike strips.
But that didn’t do much to cool down Halverson’s aggressive behavior toward the officers, according to the affidavit.
‘Shoot Me’
“I exited my patrol vehicle, as did the female, with her hands up stating ‘shoot me’ as she was walking toward us,” Garhart wrote. “We yelled at her to get on the ground multiple times, and she finally complied.”
By that time, Undersheriff Dan Fields had joined the pursuit, as had a Newcastle police officer and at least one more deputy.
After Halverson allegedly resisted being secured in handcuffs, she was walked to a sheriff’s patrol vehicle.
“On the way to the patrol vehicle, Halverson was attempting to kick law enforcement, and at one point lifted both of her feet to where she had to be carried to the vehicle,” the affidavit says. “At the vehicle, Halverson was refusing to get in and Undersheriff Fields in the process got kneed by Halverson.”
She also bit Fields behind his left ear and on his hand, Garhart wrote, adding that the undersheriff finally had to use his Taser on the woman to get her to comply and get into the back of the vehicle.
The bite behind the ear “immediately swelled up and started to bruise. Undersheriff Fields did go to the local hospital for treatment,” the affidavit says.
After Halverson was finally in custody, a K-9 named Rambo indicated the presence of illegal drugs in her car, and a search found a small amount of marijuana and a psychedelic mushroom cap.
By The Numbers
Court records show Halverson posted a $10,000 cash bond and got out of jail on July 30, but then missed a scheduled Aug. 5 preliminary hearing, so a failure to appear warrant was issued for her arrest.
She was re-arrested and bound over to face the felony charges in district court this week.
If convicted, she could get up to 10 years in prison and fines up to $50,000 on the felony interference charges. That could potentially mean up to 50 years if max sentences were ordered to run consecutive to each other.
The misdemeanors together could add up to three more years and fines up to $3,980.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
