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A Sarasota woman fleeing an armed, enraged ex-boyfriend crashed her SUV into a Sarasota police cruiser early Saturday, ejecting her and injuring Officer Katrina Young, police said.

Rebecca Provencher, 25, was driving roughly 70 mph down Orange Avenue on Aug. 15, 2009, while on the phone with a 911 dispatcher, saying she was being chased and rammed. Police said she ran a red light at Fruitville Road and struck a patrol car driven by Young. Provencher was pinned against a building, and two passengers suffered minor injuries.

Provencher was flown by helicopter to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg with serious injuries but was expected to survive, police Capt. Bill Spitler said. Young suffered a broken wrist and other injuries but was treated and released from the hospital.

Detectives said the chase began at Provencher's home in the 2900 block of Bay Street, where her ex-boyfriend, 32-year-old Eddie L. Smith, became angry that she was talking to another man on the phone. According to arrest documents, Smith punched Provencher in the chin, then went to his car for a gun when his brother tried to intervene. A witness reported hearing Provencher scream from a back bedroom, "Eddie don't shoot me."

Police said Provencher later drove to a friend's house, where Smith found her and rammed her SUV. As she sped off, Smith struck her vehicle at least two more times while she was on the phone with 911. "I'm driving down Orange Avenue and I'm going like 70 miles an hour," she told the dispatcher, police said. Moments later, as the dispatcher asked for her location, she crashed into Young's cruiser.

Smith fled and hid his vehicle under a car cover at his home in the 1800 block of 19th Street, police said. Detectives found the vehicle and arrested him hours later. He was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm, aggravated battery and felony battery, and investigators said he could also face charges related to the crash. Police said Smith had previously been charged with attacking Provencher and had prior arrests for resisting arrest and burglary.