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PRICE — Police arrested a man after several agencies teamed up for a high-speed chase early Thursday morning, officials said.
Just before midnight Wednesday, a man reported the vehicle he was traveling behind was driving erratically on state Route 10 from Ferron to Castle Dale, according to the Emery County Sheriff's Office.
Two Emery County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to Main Street in Huntington, and one of them asked the driver to take off his seat belt while his car was parked, police said.
The man took off his seat belt, but when the deputy opened his side door and asked him to get out, the man drove off northbound, spurring a high-speed chase on the 20-mile stretch of state Route 10 between Huntington and Price.
Authorities with the Carbon County Sheriff's Office, the Price Police Department and Utah Highway Patrol prepared to deploy spikes in different areas, police said.
The first spikes, which were placed about 3 miles outside Price, damaged the front tires of the car, slightly slowing it down. Additional spikes were deployed, but the man continued to drive and weaved into oncoming traffic.
At that point, the vehicle didn't have any front tires left, but it entered state Route 6 eastbound. An Emery County deputy attempted to drive alongside the car, but it accelerated and the driver struggled to stay in control of the car.
The driver began traveling in the wrong lane on Price's Main Street and almost hit several vehicles at the AutoFarm dealership. As the man and the deputy got closer to an empty lot by a Pizza Hut, the deputy used his car to hit the other car on its left rear panel, according to police.
The vehicle turned sideways into the middle of the road, and the driver nearly collided with a second police car. The driver got in control of the vehicle again and drove westbound on Main Street. He tried to turn south on 700 East, but slid through the intersection and hit the curb, driving onto a lawn, police said.
Police determined the danger to the public to be very high at that point, so one of the deputies hit the right rear panel of the vehicle and the other deputy blocked the car from moving.
The man was trying to get away when the deputies approached the car, but personnel from other agencies got to the scene and helped get the driver out of the vehicle.
Police identified the man as Ferron resident Skyler Montag, 27. He was transported from the Carbon County Jail to Castleview Hospital to be medically cleared and was then booked into the Emery County Jail on suspicion of fleeing, DUI, two counts of possession of a weapon by an intoxicated person, reckless driving, driving on suspension and resisting arrest.
The situation is still under investigation and Montag could face more charges, police said.
Montag is no stranger to local law enforcers of late. He was charged in 7th District Court on Dec. 8 with burglary, a second-degree felony; and theft, a class A misdemeanor, according to state court records.
Montag pleaded guilty to possession of drug paraphernalia Emery County Justice Court on Dec. 18. He was charged in November in Carbon County Justice Court with shoplifting, and pleaded guilty in July to DUI, according to court records.
Contributing: Pat Reavy
