Two arrested after high-speed chase from Ogden to Brigham City

Photo: Gephardt Daily

OGDEN, Utah, Dec. 28, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — A harrowing high-speed chase from Ogden to Brigham City on Thursday night ended with two people in custody — one of them a wanted fugitive.

Ogden Police Lt. Clint Christensen said the incident began in Weber County at about 7:45 p.m., when an officer recognized Jesse Lopez driving a red Grand Am down Wall Avenue in Ogden. In the Grand Am with Lopez was Alicia Johnson, who owns the car.

When the Ogden officer tried to pull Lopez over, the suspect fled west on 12th Street to Interstate 15 and headed north into Box Elder County at speeds reaching 100 mph.

In an attempt to divert officers, Johnson called police dispatch in the midst of the chase to report her vehicle stolen.

The pursuing officer requested help from Utah Highway Patrol, and a trooper set spikes at I-15 milepost 362.

The Grand Am hit the spike strip, and Lopez drove it on its rims into Brigham City, where it skidded out of control and came to a stop at about 700 North and 400 East.

At that point, Alicia Johnson was taken into custody.

Lopez fled on foot, but his escapade ended when a Brigham City officer deployed a Taser and arrested him.

Lopez, a parole fugitive, was being sought as a suspect in a traffic stop that led to the theft of a police car in Tremonton earlier in December.

Christensen said drugs were found in the Grand Am, so both Lopez and Johnson were arrested for possession of narcotics in addition to other charges.

In the course of the pursuit, two Ogden police cruisers ended up getting their tires spiked, and the bumper of a third car also was damaged, Christensen said.

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