CEDAR CITY, Utah, Jan. 21, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — What began as an attempted traffic stop for a window tint violation turned into a two-county, 60-mile chase of a suspect approaching 150 mph, ending when he became stuck in the snow.
The drama began Thursday when a Utah Highway Patrol Trooper noticed a gray Audi with a possible window tint violation northbound on Interstate 15 near Cedar City.
When the trooper began to follow, the Audi began to accelerate, according to charging documents for Stewart Hinton IV, found to have connections in four states upon arrest, something of a jack of all trades criminal.
Approaching a cluster of traffic blocking its path, Hinton sped around the right shoulder of the road to get past the vehicles. At which point “I initiated my overhead emergency lights and sirens in an attempt to stop the vehicle,” writes the arresting officer in a probable cause statement.
“I informed Cedar Dispatch that I was in pursuit of the vehicle northbound and estimated its speeds at close to 140 or 150 mph.”
The chase went on for 60 miles involved a UHP helicopter, other troopers, and local agencies before the Audi became stuck in snow in the town of Beaver and Hinton in custody without incident.
Hinton, 36, told officers he fled because he had no driver’s license, but insisted the car wasn’t stolen, according to the charging documents.
Later he said it was “probably his” then, that he had borrowed it from a friend who was in jail.
A small amount of marijuana was found in the car which Hinton told officers he had purchased at a legal dispensary in Las Vegas. But he had no medical marijuana card.
Also found in the car were 14 catalytic converters in two boxes wrapped in towels and insulation. Also inside were various drills and cutting tools.
A temporary license plate tag for the car out of Michigan turned out to be fraudulent, and a records search showed a temporary tag assigned to the vehicle out of Georgia had expired.
Officers also found Hinton is on probation out of Chicago, was driving on a revoked Illinois driver license, according to the charging documents, and has an extensive criminal record involving vehicle theft, eluding and assaulting police and numerous failure to appear warrants regarding court appearances.
Catalytic converters have become a popular target of thieves for the valuable metals involved and ease of removing them from vehicles but aren’t included in the charges pending against Hinton. Nor is there a vehicle theft among the nine counts for which he was booked into the Iron County Jail.
The charges he faces are evading police, reckless driving, driving on a revoked license, falsifying a license plate permit, drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, no proof of insurance, possession of burglary tools, and, first and lastly, a window tint violation.
