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Update: Reckless Trucker In Court To Face DUI Charges

Douglas county prosecutors questioned whether a woman accused of driving an out-of-control semi on Interstate 80 earlier this month-- would return to court after her bond was lowered. They got the answer Thursday morning. She did.

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Reporter: Brian Mastre

Reckless Trucker In Court

Posted April 19

Douglas county prosecutors questioned whether a woman accused of driving an out-of-control semi on Interstate 80 earlier this month-- would return to court after her bond was lowered. They got the answer Thursday morning. She did.

Pamela Spring, 44, of Urbandale, Iowa, is facing driving under the influence of drugs charges.

Her attorney says she's taking steps to get help.

Judge McDermott told her that she still needs to stay out of trouble or she'll be back in custody.

Spring is staying with her parents in Iowa for the time being.

She's due back in court in June.

Posted April 13

It was one of the more bizarre stories of the week. An Iowa truck driver was arrested after leading police on a sometimes erratic and slow-speed chase on Interstate 80. The trucker in court on Friday.

Forty-four-year-old Pamela Spring, jailed since last Sunday, wanted to get her $100,000 bond reduced so she could get checked out at a chemical dependency center in Iowa. Spring faces DUI charges related to drugs.

Witnesses said she was leaning out of the window of the semi, her hands not on the wheel, and screaming that aliens were chasing her.

Spring was asked by Channel 6 News if she remembered anything about the incident. “None of you business,” was the reply. She faces misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence of drugs and reckless driving. Prosecutors said it's rare they get as much paperwork in a case as they did in this one.

The Nebraska State Patrol and Omaha police finally got her to pull over at I-80 and 42nd Street just before 10 p.m. Sunday. A driver said Spring had hit his car as he tried to convince her to slow down.

“When she actually hit us we were going 45 mph,” says Bob Davey of Omaha. “When I was in front of her we were doing 10-15 mph and I thought we almost had her stopped. She came at us real hard and I jumped on it and got out of the way."

For 15 miles, Davey and another driver created a buffer so that no one could pass the erratic semi from Brown Truck Leasing Corporation. Traffic backed up, 911 told them to back away, but Davey said he couldn't live with himself if the driver hurt someone in a crash so he continued to be an escort until troopers caught up.

Spring left court Friday with a reduced bond of $25,000. Her family bailed her out. She'll be examined at a chemical treatment facility in Iowa and then be back in court next week.

Prosecutors objected to the lower bond, questioning whether she'll come back and face the charges. The judge scheduled a hearing next week and told Spring if he doesn't like what he sees, the bond will go higher.