WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — A woman Wichita Falls firefighters say was doing cartwheels in the yard while her home burned has been sentenced to prison for arson.

Elizabeth Aleman received 5 years and also a one-year jail sentence for evading arrest while doing cartwheels on a busy highway. Aleman has been in jail since August 2021.

In 2020 a fire on Perigo destroyed a mobile home. Police say Aleman admitted pouring rubbing alcohol on the couch and lighting it, then running outside to do cartwheels. When asked why, they said she told them she just wasn’t herself anymore and couldn’t cope.

In 2021, she was arrested for obstructing a highway and evading arrest when officers say people began calling about a woman jumping in front of cars, dancing and doing cartwheels on Central Freeway near the Travel Center.

When she spotted police, they say ran across all four lanes of traffic, forcing speeding cars to slam on brakes and swerve around her. The officer drove to the other side of the highway to try to catch her and said Aleman ran back across the highway again, once more causing cars to slam on brakes and swerve.

After running back and forth across the speeding traffic, police say she got down on her stomach in the middle of oncoming traffic. An officer ran across traffic, jumped over the barrier and picked Aleman up and carried her to safety on the side of the highway.