Lee Grace Dougherty gang charged in Colorado

T
he Florida stripper Lee Grace Dougherty and her two 'redneck' brothers, whose alleged cross-country crime spree ended in a dramatic shoot-out in Colorado, have been charged with attempted murder and assault on a police officer.

Dougherty, who was shot in the leg after pointing a machine-gun at police, and her two brothers, Dylan and Ryan, were finally caught on Wednesday, after a 100mph car chase ended with their vehicle veering off the road.

The trio had successfully evaded the authorities for more than a week. They went on the run after Ryan Dougherty was sentenced to 10 years' probation and put on the sex offenders register for stalking an 11-year-old girl he met on the internet.

They allegedly opened fire on a policeman who tried to pull them over in Florida. The FBI believe they were also responsible for a bank robbery in Georgia on August 2 in which they shot up the building and fled with cash.

The siblings appeared in court on Thursday via a video feed from the jail in Pueblo County, Colorado where they are being held.

According to affidavits, Dylan fired an AK-47 at police as his half-brother Ryan, drove at up to 125mph during the chase. When the car crashed, they tried to flee on foot. Lee Grace ran into a field and pointed a machine pistol at an officer, who then shot her in the thigh.

"We weren't trying to hurt anyone," she said in her affidavit, adding: "I pointed the gun at the cop... I deserved to get shot."

The trio's exploits have won them instant infamy in the US, particularly Lee Grace. Not only did she have a Flickr account that features pictures of her parading around in a bikini, but TMZ has now got it hands on some photos in which she is wearing even less than that.

The gossip site reports that the exotic dancer took part in a "hardcore" photo shoot organised by friends who arrange poker nights. It claims that over recent weeks she had posed for a series of "very revealing" pictures, some of them taken just days before she and her brothers went on the run. A lucrative career could be in the offing if she can avoid a long prison sentence.