PANGUITCH, Utah, July 18, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A Phoenix man reached speeds topping 100 mph trying to elude three police agencies Monday morning with no luck, ending up in a hospital, then jail.
Events began in Panguitch when the suspect vehicle was pulled over by a Garfield County Sheriff’s Deputy after running a stop sign just after 8 a.m.
Officers had the occupants outside the vehicle for unspecified reasons, two adults and their two children, according to a Kane County Sheriff’s Office press release, when the suspect forced his way past the officers and fled the scene in the car, a 2005 Mercedes.
Garfield deputies pursued the Mercedes into Kane County, where sheriff’s deputies there and Utah Highway Patrol troopers joined in the chase.
Kane County deputies stopped traffic near the city of Glendale and prepared spike strips for the oncoming vehicle, still in excess of 100 mph in the area of the Bryce Zion Campground in Glendale Canyon, according to the release. “As the vehicle was approaching, the deputy maneuvered his spikes into position. The suspect vehicle swerved to miss the spikes and impacted the front of the deputy’s empty patrol vehicle.”
The episode’s only injuries were suffered by the suspect, Curtis E. Heisler, 34, Phoenix, who was treated at the scene, then taken by Life Flight helicopter to the St. George Regional Hospital. He was later released and booked into the Garfield County Jail on multiple charges.
