Huh? What? Who?

Woman ditches wheelchair, flees police

Thursday, May 11, 2006; Posted: 8:19 p.m. EDT (00:19 GMT)

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- A wheelchair-bound Los Angeles woman, who has repeatedly filed lawsuits over access for the disabled, got up and ran after police arrested her for fraud, authorities said Thursday.

Laura Lee Medley, 35, had sued in at least four California cities over injuries she claimed she sustained while trying to navigate her wheelchair before she was suspected of fraud.

Medley, who claimed to be paralyzed from a drunk driving accident, was tracked to Las Vegas where police there took her into custody and then, when she complained of medical issues, to a local hospital, Long Beach prosecutor Belinda Mayes said.

"She gets to the hospital and while she's waiting for an examination, she gets up from the chair and runs," Mayes said. "Somebody remarked, 'That's where the great miracle occurred.' "

Medley sprinted through the hospital corridors but was quickly apprehended by police and booked pending extradition to San Bernardino, California, where she is facing charges of filing false documents, attempted grand theft and insurance fraud.

Medley has sued the cities of Long Beach and South Pasadena and counties of San Bernardino and Riverside over various injuries she claimed she sustained in her wheelchair. She was also being sought on arrest warrants by the states of Oregon and Washington, Mayes said.