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PROVO — An Eagle Mountain man has pleaded guilty to leading officers on a frantic chase through Utah County in a stolen police vehicle.
Douglas Walker Ellison, 21, pleaded guilty last week to aggravated escape, a first-degree felony, and was sentenced to five years to life in prison. Ellison indicated last month he would accept a plea deal in the case rather than proceed to trial.
In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss four remaining felony charges and two misdemeanors: possession of a controlled substance, possession of a firearm by a restricted person, unauthorized control of a vehicle, failure to respond to an officer's signal to stop, failure to stop at command of a law officer, and driving with a measurable controlled substance in the body.
Ellison, who escaped as he was being arrested Dec. 10 for parole violations, is accused of slipping from his handcuffs and fleeing in an officer's vehicle when the officer left him unattended in the truck to retrieve shoes for him.
Ellison led police on a chase at nearly 100 mph through rush-hour traffic while he was high on methamphetamine, according to charging documents. During the pursuit, Saratoga Springs police officer Jared Chuchran fired three shots at the stolen police vehicle as it barreled toward the officer. Chuchran then dove out of the way. Two shots struck the vehicle, one narrowly missing Ellison. The shooting was later determined to be legally justified.
Ellison eventually abandoned the police vehicle and attempted to carjack another car before running down state Route 73, pursued on foot by officers, after hitting a median and blowing out three of the truck's tires. Ellison was tackled by a Utah National Guardsman who saw the chase unfolding.
