Troopers: Wrong-way driver arrested after hitting 100+ mph on I-15, driving through active construction site
Aug 23, 2023, 9:20 AM
A Utah Highway Patrol vehicle in Salt Lake City is pictured on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. (Deseret News)
(Deseret News)
SUNSET, Utah — A 30-year-old man was arrested after state troopers said he drove the wrong way on Interstate 15, allegedly admitting to hitting speeds of 120 mph and driving through a construction site where workers were actively working.
According to a probable cause statement, William Tyler Emerson was booked into the Davis County Jail early Wednesday morning on multiple misdemeanor charges, including driving under the influence, reckless endangerment and reckless driving.
Around 1:39 a.m. Wednesday, troopers received a call of a wrong-way driver heading south in the northbound I-15 lanes near the Weber/Davis county line. A responding trooper said he attempted to stop the vehicle with a PIT maneuver as it passed him “traveling over 90 mph in the HOV lane the wrong way,” but it was unsuccessful.
Local officers responded and a Centerville officer reported the car traveling at 102 mph as it passed Park Lane. Troopers reported that other officers in the Centerville area were able to safely bring the vehicle to a stop, but the stop came after Emerson allegedly drove through “a construction closure where workers were actively working.”
After being taken into custody, a trooper spoke with Emerson and “could immediately detect signs of impairment including short attention span, bloodshot eyes, and random outbursts of laughter.”
According to court documents, Emerson told the trooper during standard field sobriety tests that he had smoked marijuana before the incident. After being read his Miranda rights, Emerson allegedly told the trooper he “intentionally drove (the) wrong way to go have intercourse with a friend.”
“Emerson made multiple outbursts including f*** that was fun and that he remembered governing out his vehicle at 120 mph when he entered the freeway in the Sunset area,” the probable cause statement read.
The trooper stated Emerson showed “a disregard for the safety of others in one of the most blatant and dangerous ways I have ever seen.”
