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Sam Penrod reportingA high-speed chase in Parley's Canyon left one man dead and forced the closure of I-80 for almost 10 hours.
The man who died has been identified as 57-year-old Douglas E. Cottrell of the Wasatch Front.
The chase ended in a crash that initially closed I-80 through Parley's Canyon in both directions. By Sunday evening the westbound lanes had reopened. The eastbound lanes didn't reopen until after midnight.
Around 3 p.m., the Summit County Sheriff's Office received a call of a fraud. The caller said the suspect was driving a Subaru and gave the license plate number. A short time later a deputy located the vehicle and tried to stop it. The driver fled, tried to out-maneuver police, and they say he put other motorists in danger.
Traffic camera video shows Cottrell's desperate attempt to get away. For more than 30 minutes he led deputies and Utah Highway Patrol troopers on a high-speed chase up and down the canyon, at times traveling more than 100 miles per hour.
There were some close calls during the pursuit, including an incident in which Cottrell's car struck a deputy's vehicle. The deputy involved in the accident had injuries to his right shoulder and arm.
The suspect avoided road spikes. Moments later he crossed into the opposite lane of traffic and drove straight into the trailer of a semi-truck loaded with ethanol.
UHP's Sgt. Harley Watkins said, "He was fairly reckless. We backed off the pursuit to try to allow him to calm down a little bit on several occasions. He chose not to do that. As he did cross the median, we do believe at this time it was intentional. He picked the one tanker truck coming up the road at this time and went head-on into that."
Cottrell was killed on impact. The driver of the semi was not physically hurt but was shaken up.
Police had to close both directions of the freeway to safely pump the ethanol out of the semi's tanks and to investigate the crash.
Investigators ask that anyone who knows Cottrell or knows where he was living contact the Summit County Sheriff's Department at 435-615-3520.
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
