CEDAR CITY, Utah, Dec. 22, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) — A high-speed chase in southern Utah ended Sunday night when the teen driver crashed, landing herself and four other teens in police custody.
According to Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Ryan Bauer, a call came into Cedar City dispatchers at 7:15 p.m. about a reckless driver on southbound I-15 at about 15 miles north Cedar City.
“The caller was able to give the dispatcher the license plate number which came up as a stolen 2008 Infiniti out of Colorado,” Bauer said. “The caller said the driver was traveling at a high rate of speed and also taking up both lanes of traffic and not letting others pass.”
Bauer said when they got the call to assist, already knowing the car was stolen allowed them to prepare for a possible chase.
“We started with immediately placing three troopers en route and enlisting the assistance of both Iron County troopers as well as Washington County troopers as a precaution, to block off exits so they could not get off the freeway and into town.”
Bauer said one of the UHP troopers saw the car as it passed milepost 68, and started to follow the car until the other resources were set up and backup was in place.
“Once those resources were in place, the trooper attempted to stop the car just south of milepost 62,” Bauer said. “The driver would not stop and they continued southbound at speeds of more than 120 miles per hour and continued to weave in and out of traffic.”
At exit 40, the driver decided to get off the freeway.
“At the bottom of the off ramp, she tried to turn left to turn around and get back on the freeway going north,” Bauer said. “She was driving way too fast, slid off the road and hit a large sign taking out the post to the sign before landing in a ditch.”
Bauer said after the car crashed, the 14-year-old female driver and four boys, ranging in age from 13-15 years old, all tried to run.
“The driver and one male were apprehended immediately by the trooper and the other three ran up onto the freeway,” Bauer said. “We already had other agencies who had set up a containment and were ready for them so they were able to apprehend the juveniles within about five minutes.”
According to investigators, all the teens appear to be runaways from the Denver area and were headed to Southern California to visit someone they knew.
“All of their parents or legal guardians have been notified of their arrest and for now, the teens will remain in custody at a juvenile facility in Cedar City,” Bauer said. “They are facing felony charges of fleeing and being in possession of a stolen vehicle and the driver is facing several additional felony charges.”
None of the teens was injured.
“We have to credit the guys from the beginning to get this set up before it really started as well as getting all the resources in place,” Bauer said. “They were lucky no one was hurt and, with the help of all the agencies, we were able to get them off the roads and into custody. The troopers all did a really good job.”
That moment when the driver of this is sitting right next to me
Dood literally me too