Family: Woman accused of driving SUV into Safeway suffers from bipolar disorder

SPRINGFIELD, Ore. (KVAL) - Noella Fay tried to buy $2,200 worth of gift cards at Safeway with a check Tuesday afternoon, Springfield Police said.

The check bounced.

Fay returned shortly after midnight, angry and demanding that store employees give her the cards, police said.

They refused.

"Shortly thereafter, she drove into the store down an aisle to the back of the store, and then backed up and drove between the check stands and the aisles and drove out the other doors," Sgt. Rich Charboneau said.

No one was injured, but the Chevrolet Tahoe left the store in tatters.

"It goes without saying that we are just grateful that no customers or employees were harmed in our Springfield Safeway this morning," said Jill McGinnis, communications manager with Safeway.

Police found Fay's SUV abandoned. Officers arrested Fay at her home.

The story attracted a lot of attention.

Now, Fay's sister and husband want the public to know: that isn't the Noella Yvonne Fay they know and love.

The 43-year-old has bipolar 1 disorder, according to her husband and sister.

Fay's medication had recently been modified, her sister said.

"I think her doctors may have been a little negligent, honestly," Fay's sister Joeleen Alcantar said. "If you look at her record, you know her mom just died. You know, she's going two or three days a month with not getting a lot of sleep - and you're OK to lower that medication? You kidding me?"

Alcantar said Fay used to work as a case worker. She lost her job after a manic episode.

Her family says they've called police for help in the past.

"You call the cops, and the cops tell you: 'Sorry, there's nothing you can do 'til she hurts herself or hurts others'," her husband Brian Fay said. "Well, that's what it took to get her in there."

The Fays have a daughter and son together.

But she had been in and out of the home over the last few days. She lost her cell phone, and family members weren't able to keep track of her whereabouts.

Now Fay is in the Lane County Jail, facing criminal charges. What happens next is up to the district attorney, police said.

"Just a question for you guys," Alcantar asked. "How would you feel if that was your child in Safeway and she went in there? You would hate her if anything happened to your child. I hate the system, because something is going to happen to my sister. She's a victim, too."