Dash cam documents rest stop pursuit with rented car
Jun 11, 2018, 11:40 PM | Updated: Jun 12, 2018, 5:49 pm
BOX ELDER COUNTY, Utah – A man and woman were arrested Friday after a short vehicle pursuit around a rest stop near Perry.
Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Todd Royce said troopers responded after 10 p.m. to the rest area off of northbound I-15 at mile marker 361, on a report of a suspicious vehicle.
Royce said the man inside the blue sedan identified himself by a false name. Once troopers subsequently discovered his real name was William Davis, 28, a man wanted on an extraditable warrant out of Idaho, he allegedly refused to get out of the car.
“He actually locked both the doors, jumps from the passenger seat to the driver’s seat and takes off in the car,” Royce said.
Dash camera video from two separate Utah Highway Patrol cruisers then shows as troopers pursue the car around the rest stop.
“They pitted him once,” Royce said, reviewing the video. “You’ll see him spin and be next to the car, and then he takes off again.”
One of the cruisers ultimately headed off the car near a field.
“As one trooper is corralling him this way, the other one pushes him down into the ditch,” Royce said.
Royce said Davis briefly fled from the vehicle, which was a rental, but he was quickly taken into custody.
A probable cause statement said the woman Davis was with, subsequently identified by UHP as Valena Nelson, 29, said she had to go to the restroom and was escorted there by a Perry Police officer prior to the pursuit.
Royce said investigators subsequently searched the car and discovered drugs, as well as a loaded gun, with the serial number ground off, located under a seat.
Detectives said both Davis and Nelson appeared to be impaired.
Davis was arrested on suspicion of failing to stop or respond at the command of police, as well as suspicion of DUI and several alleged drug-related offenses.
Nelson was also arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, as well as alleged drug-related offenses.
Royce said troopers are trained to resolve pursuit situations quickly to protect the public.
“If this guy gets out on the roadway, it’s going to be a full-blown pursuit, and we don’t want that to happen,” Royce said. “The longer that evasion goes from law enforcement, the more dangerous it can get.”
