VICTORIA -- An Oak Bay woman has been arrested on a number of charges, including assaulting a police officer, after a dramatic hit-and-run and arrest in the community on Thursday.

Oak Bay police say that officers were called to the 1500-block of Beach Drive at approximately 1 p.m. for reports of a serious hit-and-run involving an unoccupied parked vehicle.

Police say that bystanders called police when a vehicle struck the parked car and then drove away. Witnesses were then able to supply officers with the fleeing vehicle's licence plate, and one concerned citizen is being credited with following the vehicle until it parked at a residence. 

Officers then arrived at the home and moved to arrest the female driver of the vehicle, who was displaying signs of impairment, according to police.

"When we tried to arrest her, that's when the struggle ensued," said Oak Bay Police deputy chief Ray Bernoties. 

Bernoties says that the woman kicked the attending officers repeatedly in the legs during the arrest, and that she continued to kick the interior of the police car after being put into the back seat. 

Bernoties also notes that it appears the woman's two young children were inside the home during the arrest, and that officers attempted to keep the physical arrest out of view of the children. 

Officers then took the woman to hospital, not for treatment of injuries during the arrest, but out of concern of the seriousness of the collision in the hit and run. 

"The unoccupied parked vehicle that was hit sustained significant damage and most likely will be a write-off," said Oak Bay police in a news release Monday.

Once the driver was taken to hospital, police say she refused to provide a blood sample.

She is now facing charges of assaulting a police officer, failure to provide a blood sample, and hit and run.