CACHE COUNTY, Utah — An erratic driver was stopped with SWAT team intervention and tear gas in Cache County on Wednesday night after fleeing from police, according to authorities.
According to a statement by the Utah Department of Public Safety, around 9:08 pm, on US-89/91 near Wellsville, a charcoal gray Mercedes van with Nevada plates was reported to police for erratic driving and flashing its lights behind drivers.
The van continued driving erratically and flashing its lights and Troopers found it on US-91 near Smithfield and attempted to stop it. The van failed to stop and continued northbound.
DPS said the Trooper did not pursue but did follow at a distance to keep an eye on the van. He then noticed the van make a U-turn at the south end of Richmond to come back southbound. He tried to pull over the van once again, but it fled again. The van then made another U-turn and continued this behavior for a bit at lower speeds. Once the van reached Smithfield again, Troopers stopped following.
Troopers and some other local units kept their eyes on the van as it continued southbound into Logan where "the van ran every red light it came to."
Responding officers then lost sight of the van for a time.
A citizen then spotted the van and called about it driving recklessly northbound into Logan Canyon.
So, Rich County deputies set up near the county line with spikes. The van was successfully spiked but continued to flee.
A Trooper then made a successful pit maneuver near milepost 494 and finally stopped the van. DPS said the driver would not comply with officers' commands. So a SWAT team responded and deployed gas. Finally, the 31 year-old driver was taken into custody at about 2:45 am.
Charges were pending.
