Video shows Utah Highway Patrol ending high-speed chase in Southern Utah

March 1, 2018 Utah Channel 3

ST. GEORGE – Footage from a dashcam video shows a Utah Highway Patrol trooper using a PIT maneuver to bring an end to a high-speed chase across three Southern Utah counties Thursday.

The Utah Highway Patrol chased a black 2006 Subaru on southbound I-15 across Beaver, Iron and Washington counties that finally ended when a trooper used a PIT maneuver to end the chase around Mile 19, Washington County, Utah, March 1, 2018 | Dash cam image courtesy of the Utah Highway Patrol, St. George News

Around 4:30 p.m., a Beaver County Sheriff’s deputy stopped a black 2006 Subaru with Colorado plates for a traffic violation on southbound Interstate 15 around milepost 78, according to a news release from the UHP.

While pulled over, an adult male on the passenger side traded places with the Subaru’s driver and sped away, triggering a call out to other law enforcement via the dispatch center in Cedar City.

Responding UHP troopers set up spikes at miles 72 and 63 while a trooper looking for the fleeing Subaru located it southbound at 115 mph. At this point the trooper activated his vehicle’s lights and sirens and the chase ensued.

The Subaru’s right-side tires hit the spikes at Mile 72 and began to deflate. However, the chase continued through Iron County at speeds of 90-100 mph, and picked up some pursuing Iron County Sheriff’s deputies along the way.

The spikes at Mile 63 came up and the Subaru kept on while as the right-side tires lost their rubber.

Additional spiking attempts proved futile until the pursuit crossed into Washington County where spikes caught the remaining tires.

As the Subaru began to slow around Mile 19, a pursuing UHP trooper was able to perform a pursuit intervention technique, or PIT maneuver, that caused the fleeing vehicle to spin out and come to a stop on the side of the roadway.

The driver, 33-year-old Jerry L. White, told troopers he was trying to escape due to having warrants in Colorado.

There was also another adult in the Subaru along with three juveniles.

This report is based on statements from police or other emergency responders 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.

Email: mkessler@stgnews.com

Twitter: @MoriKessler