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Driver left stranded on freeway by cop has more troubles

10:09 PM CST on Tuesday, December 18, 2007

By Brad Woodard / 11 News

Valencia Lee claims a police officer took her car keys after pulling her over and left her stranded on the side of the Eastex Freeway on Monday.

If you really want to get Donnette Runnels going, just ask her about a story she saw Monday night on 11 News. It was the story where a motorist claimed a motorcycle officer, who was escorting a funeral procession, pulled her over and then took off with her car keys.

Valencia Lee said the officer never issued a citation and after he took her cars keys, she and a friend were stranded on the side of the Eastex Freeway for three hours.

Runnels said she saw the whole incident, and insists Lee’s story is not totally accurate.

“I was very upset. Very upset,” said Runnels. “I almost wanted to look up her phone number and call her. But instead, I e-mailed you guys.”

Lee claims she was traveling on the Eastex freeway Monday afternoon, when she was pulled over for no apparent reason by a sheriff's deputy.

“He said, ‘stay right here until I come back,’ and I'm sitting out there three hours waiting,” Lee said.

That's where Runnels comes in. She too was on the freeway Monday and says she saw Lee weaving in and out of the funeral procession.

"She actually squeezed through two cars in the procession almost causing an accident,” claimed Runnels. “That's when the officer decided to go ahead and take out after her to pull her over.

“And she wouldn't pull over. He had to get in front of her.”

The Harris County Sheriff's Office said investigators have determined the motorcycle officer in question was not one of their's.

What's more: “We've also determined the woman who claims to be driving that vehicle doesn't not have a valid driver's license and the license plates on that vehicle do not belong to that vehicle,” said Harris County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. John Martin.

As for the mysterious motorcycle cop? The sheriff's office says he could have been from any agency in the state escorting the procession through Houston to some other place.

Lee was unwilling to give 11 News an on camera interview Tuesday, but confirmed she does not have a valid driver's license. 

As for the license plates? She claims to have the correct ones, but hasn't had time to put them on her vehicle.

Still, she says there no excuse for being left stranded on the freeway.

On that point, the sheriff's office agrees and continues to investigate the incident.

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