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SALT LAKE CITY — A man wanted in California and Nevada was arrested this week in Salt Lake City after a chase ended when police say the man tried to use Uber as a getaway vehicle.
The wild string of events began Sunday night when Utah Highway Patrol troopers responded to a fender-bender crash off I-80 at the Redwood Road off-ramp. Troopers immediately noticed a strong odor of marijuana coming from one of the vehicles, according to a Salt Lake County Jail report.
Allen Anthony Elseth, 28, of Lodi, California, and a female were detained by troopers. At one point, Elseth asked if he could urinate, the report states. But when he got out of the patrol car, police say Elseth ran off.
The man ran across I-80 and "was nearly struck by several vehicles," the report states.
Elseth continued running to a nearby secured airport parking lot, climbing a chain-link fence with barbed wire on top. While hiding in the parking lot, Elseth ordered an Uber to pick him up, according to the report.
But when the SUV that picked him up was exiting the parking lot, troopers stopped the Uber driver and spotted Elseth lying down in the back.
Elseth then jumped into the driver's seat and attempted to speed off while sitting on top of the Uber driver, according to the report.
"Mr. Elseth put the vehicle in drive and put his foot on the accelerator. The vehicle began moving through the parking lot with me hanging on through the driver's side window and trooper Hull inside the vehicle through the open passenger door," the officer wrote in his report.
The trooper hanging on the driver's side door was able to put the SUV in park and shut off the ignition. A West Valley police officer assisting with the incident deployed a Taser on Elseth and he was taken into custody.
The trooper suffered minor injuries to his face and right hand. Investigators who later went through Elseth's vehicle at the scene of the orignal crash found "15 large packages of marijuana" in plastic vacuum-sealed bags, the report states.
Elseth is a fugitive from California wanted on numerous felony charges, according to police.
In October of 2016, he was named a "most wanted" person by the Modesto Police Department in California, which was investigating him for allegedly trafficking a minor, pimping a minor, pandering of a minor, unlawful sex with a minor and giving marijuana to a minor.
In September of 2016, the Mountain Democrat newspaper reported that Elseth was arrested following a chase with police near South Lake Tahoe that reached speeds of 120 mph and ended when Elseth crashed the BMW he was driving. He was booked into jail after being treated for injuries at a local hospital, but got out after posting $50,000 bail a short time later, according to the newspaper.
