Man sentenced for chase that closed road to Salt Lake International Airport

SALT LAKE CITY — A convicted felon turned an attempted traffic stop for a revoked driver's license into a police pursuit that ended near the Salt Lake International Airport.

A Salt Lake City police officer attempted to pull over Atrayl Freitag, 39, on Dec. 26, 2025, after a license plate check revealed the car's owner had a revoked driver's license.

Freitag refused to comply with the officer's signals to stop while traveling at the speed limit, according to a police booking affidavit. The officer stopped pursuing Freitag with emergency lights activated, but continued to follow Freitag with the assistance of other Salt Lake City police officers in the area.

Freitag stopped at a gas station and officers devised a plan to arrest him there.

Several marked and unmarked police vehicles entered the parking lot with emergency lights on, attempting to stop Freitag from fleeing, according to the affidavit.

An officer's body-camera footage shows Freitag driving away and ramming a police vehicle. According to the affidavit, Freitag nearly hit an officer who was commanding him to surrender.

"This officer had to push himself off of the fleeing vehicle to assist them in escaping to avoid being struck," the affidavit states.

Police pursued Freitag into South Salt Lake, then back into Salt Lake City, where he entered the North Temple on-ramp to the airport. A PIT maneuver was used to stop Freitag near the entrance of Terminal Drive, just before he could enter airport roads.

Footage shows officers commanding Freitag to exit the vehicle for several minutes. During this, officers shot less-lethal rounds at the car in an attempt to get Freitag out.

Freitag eventually exited the vehicle and was arrested without further incident.

Police found "several items of paraphernalia" inside Freitag's vehicle, according to the affidavit. Freitag later admitted to officers that he "consumed methamphetamine" during the chase.

Court records show Freitag has had several drug convictions since 2008, including felony drug use and fleeing from police.

Freitag was charged with third-degree felonies of driving under the influence and failing to stop at the command of police, and misdemeanor charges of property damage, interfering with a police officer, possession of drug paraphernalia and operating a vehicle without an interlock system.

He pleaded guilty to the felony charges, and the misdemeanor charges were dismissed with prejudice, according to court documents.

Freitag was sentenced on June 4 to at least five years at the Utah State Prison. However, his sentence was suspended, and he was ordered to spend 60 days at a drug treatment center, then was placed on a three-year probationary period.

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