Officers capture pursuit suspect

By Sun Advocate

Sunday afternoon was not calm for local law enforcement officers.
At approximately 12:54 p.m. on Feb. 17, an attempt to locate bulletin sounded the air waves in patrol cars across Emery and Carbon County. A driver in a 2001 white Pontiac Trans Am had reportedly left a gas station in Crescent Junction without paying. Officers responded to the gas skip broadcast and attempted to find the suspect vehicle.
Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Travis Lemon and an Emery sheriff’s deputy located the alleged vehicle and pulled the suspect over near mile post 159.
Lemon exited his patrol vehicle and approached the suspect car. As the trooper approached the Pontiac, the driver purportedly fled the Emery County scene westbound on I-70. The two law enforcement officers followed the suspect, who had turned and fled westbound on U.S. Highway 6. The officers lost visual contact with the suspect.
Authorities in Carbon County were notified of the incident and were awaiting the arrival of the suspect vehicle which was reported heading toward Wellington at excessive speeds. The officers had received reports of a white Trans Am passing unsafely at a high rate of speed, allegedly running motorists off the road.
Traffic on U.S. 6 was steady in both directions, according to law enforcement officials. The traffic flow did not allow Lemon to pass safely, which resulted in the suspect leading the pursuit by about one mile ahead of the trooper.
Officers who responded to the incident managed to make visual contact with the suspect car and purportedly clocked the vehicle’s speed at 120 miles per hour. Because of the danger involved in the situation, authorities decided to spike the tires of the suspect car. Spikes were to be placed at Cat Canyon near Wellington.
The suspect, however, did not reach these spikes before turning the vehicle around and heading eastbound near Cat Canyon. After turning around, the suspect wrecked the vehicle and fled on foot heading in the direction of Wellington.
Law enforcement personnel reportedly followed the suspect into a gully near the Savage yard east of Wellington. Price Police Officer Dennis Christensen apprehended the suspect and transported the man to Castleview Hospital. The suspect was later transferred to the Carbon County Jail.
Although the name of the individual has not been released, Lemon indicated the suspect is an 18 year old male from Minnesota. Lemon also indicated the Pontiac was reported stolen from a car dealership in Lexington, Neb.
The suspect was booked into jail on several charges, including theft of services, felony evasion, possession of stolen property and attempted homicide for the reckless endangerment of motorists traveling U.S. 6.