Police: Woman tried to escape atop trees

PALM BEACH, Fla., Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Authorities in Florida said a woman accused of fleeing a traffic stop in a pickup truck with stolen license plates tried to climb a tree to elude police.

The Palm Beach Police Department said a pickup truck bearing license plates reported stolen from a sport-utility vehicle fled a traffic stop around 12:45 a.m. Monday in Miami and was able to elude police, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported Thursday.

A fisherman in Palm Beach reported seeing the truck parked in some bushes in the Four Arts Plaza some time later and officers discovered the truck empty with Amy Meissner, 43, hiding nearby.

Meissner fled police on foot and climbed a tree to get onto a nearby rooftop, police said. Meissner jumped into another tree while police were waiting for a Palm Beach County fire department ladder truck, officers said.

Meissner eventually came down and was treated for two broken toes, police said. Investigators said Meissner told them she was not the driver of the pickup truck. She said she had been a passenger in the truck and a man had been driving.

Meissner was arrested and charged with grand theft auto, fleeing, driving without a license and reckless driving. She was ordered held in lieu of $16,000 bail.