Woman leads police on 88-mile pursuit at triple-digit speeds on I-15

A Hyundai passenger car's passenger-side tires are completely shredded after an 88-mile pursuit on Interstate 15, Beaver County, Utah, June 23, 2018 | Photo courtesy of the Utah Highway Patrol, St. George News

588152, 592316, 588377

ST. GEORGE — A woman led troopers on an 88-mile-long, high-speed pursuit through three counties on Interstate 15 that ended when she was forced to a stop Friday evening.

Police investigate the scene after an 88-mile pursuit through three counties on Interstate 15, Beaver County, Utah, June 23, 2018 | Photo courtesy of the Utah Highway Patrol, St. George News

The incident began shortly after 7 p.m. in Nephi when the woman driving a white Hyundai was heading south on I-15 at a “high rate of speed,” according to a news release issued by the Utah Highway Patrol Saturday morning.

Troopers got behind the car with lights and sirens activated. The driver, traveling at more than 100 mph, refused to pull the car over, according to UHP, and a pursuit was initiated.

The chase continued south on I-15 at triple-digits speeds for nearly 90 miles until troopers spiked the car’s tires, which slowed it down enough for officers to perform a PIT maneuver.

The PIT maneuver — or precision immobilization technique — is a technique used by law enforcement during pursuit to stop fleeing vehicles while minimizing risk to the driver. The officer bumps the side of the rear bumper of the fleeing vehicle, causing it to abruptly turn sideways and the driver to lose control and stop.

The rear tire of a Hyundai passenger car is completely shredded after an 88-mile pursuit on Interstate 15, Beaver County, Utah, June 23, 2018 | Photo courtesy of the Utah Highway Patrol, St. George News

The maneuver brought the car to a stop and the pursuit to an end just a few miles from the Interstate 70 exchange in Beaver County.

The situation ended safely, UHP Trooper Lawrence Hopper said, adding that no one was injured during the pursuit and no other vehicles were involved.

The driver was taken into custody and transported to jail.

By the end of the chase at least two of the car’s tires were shredded away, leaving only the metal rims.

The incident is still under investigation, as there were no obvious reasons why the woman would have fled, according to police.

“Troopers still haven’t figured out why she didn’t stop,” Hopper said Saturday.

This report is based on statements from police and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.  

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

4 Comments

  • indy-vfr June 23, 2018 at 9:32 pm

    Maybe an “immigrant” The law simply would not apply!

  • Billy Madison June 24, 2018 at 7:56 am

    She didn’t want to pull over because she would have gotten a speeding ticket which would have raised her insurance. And, in another 642 miles and she would have made it to the border.

  • utahdiablo June 24, 2018 at 10:02 am

    Thanks to the I-15 speed limit being raised to 80, we see drivers going at least 90 – 95 blowing past us doing the limit, so UHP, get more units writing more tickets and slow these dummies the heck down…but as to the speeder girl, she should have had the pit put to her after 10 miles let alone 88…take her license away judge, and make her take the bus

  • Carpe Diem June 24, 2018 at 5:41 pm

    Coming down south of Cedar in the evening this week had at least three past us going 100+. When you are going 80, and they bob and weave passing you like you arent moving… perhaps we need more patrols. But 0.5!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.