The pursuit was called off after officers lost sight of the vehicle, police said.
A short time later, the vehicle was spotted abandoned behind a home in a subdivision, and Fields fled into the woods, police said.
Butler County Sheriff’s deputies set up a perimeter to keep the suspect closed in, Middletown police said.
Koda tracked down a hill to a creek where sunglasses were found. The canine continued tracking up a hill and over a fence, police said. He then continued into a clearing and down a path where he located a cigarette pack. Koda kept on tracking and he located the suspect’s shoes, stuck in the mud.
He then tracked to the door of a large horse barn where the driver was located. She was hiding, completely covered in a pile of wood shavings in the barn’s arena, police said.
Middletown police called it a “winning partnership” with the Butler County Sheriff’s Office and the department’s “incredibly trained” canine team.
Fields will appear next in Middletown Municipal Court on Feb. 5. She remains in the Middletown City Jail.
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