A chaotic series of crashes and a police confrontation near Riverhead's Polish Festival ended Sunday with the arrest of a 34-year-old woman accused of driving recklessly through an area packed with festivalgoers.

According to police, an officer assigned to festival security first spotted Blanca Jimenez-Tapia, of Riverhead, driving erratically near the event. Authorities say her Hyundai struck a parked vehicle on Sweezy Avenue and then attempted to flee the scene.

As the officer approached the Hyundai, police said the vehicle hit a second parked car and again tried to drive away. The traffic control officer attempted to stop the driver on foot, but investigators say Jimenez-Tapia accelerated and fled.

The officer alerted nearby units, and moments later other officers spotted the Hyundai allegedly speeding back toward the festival grounds on Osborne Avenue, which had been closed to traffic because of large crowds attending the event.

Police said multiple officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver maneuvered around their efforts.

She only came to a stop after police say an officer used a marked patrol car to block the Hyundai's path, causing Jimenez-Tapia to crash into the patrol car, disabling her own vehicle and, in the words of police, "stopping the threat to the public."

She was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the collision.

Afterward, police charged her with multiple vehicle and traffic violations, as well as reckless endangerment and unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle.

Jimenez-Tapia was later released on an appearance ticket.