A woman was arrested after leading Federal Way police on a lengthy chase onto Interstate 5 and causing a long traffic back-up after striking vehicles on Friday night.

The incident began at approximately 5 p.m. while a police officer assigned at The Commons Mall attempted to take a woman accused of shoplifting into custody outside the mall.

The woman ran to her vehicle and drove directly at the officer, attempting to strike him, said police spokesperson Cathy Schrock in an email.

Officers located the vehicle fleeing the area and pursued the driver onto I-5 southbound. The woman attempted to make a U-turn near some truck scales on I-5 and struck two vehicles heading northbound.

The crash caused minor injuries and block two lanes of northbound traffic for several hours.

The woman was booked into SCORE jail for felony assault of a police officer, theft charges and possible traffic charges.