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One arrested, another at large in casino robbery and chase

Posted at 4:39 AM, Feb 13, 2014
and last updated 2014-02-13 19:42:48-05

HERRIMAN, Utah -- A man who was allegedly involved in a robbery at the Montego Bay casino in West Wendover, Nevada was arrested early Thursday morning after a high-speed chase through Tooele and Salt Lake counties.

West Wendover police responded to the casino around 11:20 Wednesday night after receiving a report of a robbery. According to a press release from the West Wendover Police Department, the suspect jumped over the counter at a cashier's cage and stole a cash box containing at least $650.

Officers notified the Tooele County Sheriff's Office about the robbery and a Utah Highway Patrol trooper attempted to stop the suspect vehicle about 83 miles east of the Utah-Nevada border.

The suspects continued toward the Salt Lake Valley and one suspect got out of the vehicle near Bangerter Highway, south of Salt Lake City International Airport.

The driver, who UHP identified as 38-year-old Elbert Arnaz Woodson Jr., continued south on Bangerter Highway and through a quiet Herriman neighborhood near 7000 W 13400 S.

Police said the chase along Bangerter Highway reached speeds in excess of 100 mph.

Karen Bateman, who lives in the Herriman neighborhood, said some GPS systems show 7000 W as a through street, but it's actually a dead end.

Bateman happened to be awake when the suspect's car approached.

"It sounded like he was going faster so I pulled my blinds down to see it pass the house and hit the telephone poles that are laying on the road to show it's a dead end," Bateman said. "[The car] hit the poles and went flying in the air up over the fence. Looked like something from a movie."

More than two dozen police vehicles arrived at the scene and Woodson was taken into custody.

Woodson and the other suspect both face multiple felony charges.

Woodson was also arrested in November 2013 for allegedly cheating at gaming at the Nugget Casino in West Wendover.