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Foreign driver's encounter caused backup on I-10

Posted at 12:45 PM, Apr 18, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-18 15:45:13-04
Authorities say a five-mile backup on Interstate 10 in western Arizona resulted from a quickly defused confrontation between law enforcement officers and a Japanese woman who didn't know American driving practices.
 
La Paz County sheriff's Lt. Curt Bagby says a Japanese woman kept driving after an officer activated his emergency lights and siren to pull her over for a traffic violation late Sunday.   
 
Bagby says two other motorists eventually slowed their own vehicles ahead of the woman's rental car to force her to stop.
 
According to Bagby, four officers initially approached the woman's car with guns drawn and pointed down before realizing the woman wasn't a threat.
 
He says the woman was released without being cited after officers spoke with her through a translation service. Her identity wasn't released.