A Des Moines woman has been sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for crimes including dragging a Washington police officer with a stolen vehicle in August of 2020.

Forty-three year-old Mary Bella Brooks pleaded guilty to one count of interference with official acts with use of a dangerous weapon, and two counts of second-degree theft, both class D felonies, and possession of more than five grams of methamphetamine, a class B felony. District 8B Senior Judge John Linn ordered Brooks Friday to serve 25 years at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women in Mitchellville for the meth offense, consecutively to five years for interference with official acts. Those 30 years will be served concurrently, or at the same time, as the theft counts with a mandatory minimum of one half of one third of the sentence. Brooks is given credit for 99 days served in a county jail in Texas while awaiting extradition, and 410 days in the Washington County Jail. She is ordered to pay a $5,000 fine for the meth count and a $1,025 fine for each of the other convicted counts, plus surcharges and victim restitution. Washington County Attorney John Gish argued that Brooks should serve up to 40 years in prison, while the defense asked for all the sentences to run concurrently for a total of 25 years.

Gish played bodycam and dash cam footage of the August 2nd incident during which Brooks was stopped by Officer Ethan Hansen for driving with no license plates. Upon asking her to exit the vehicle she drove off with Hansen hanging on by the window while she drove 50-55 miles per hour for approximately four blocks. Hansen eventually fell off the vehicle and received minor injuries. She then abandoned that stolen vehicle and stole another leaving the area. Gish also played phone call audio from the Washington County Jail in which she was heard laughing about the incident. Brooks gave a statement sharing she was not in her right mind during the time of the call and nothing about the incident was funny. She also apologized to the officer’s father, Washington Lieutenant Lyle Hansen, as Ethan didn’t attend the hearing.