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SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah Highway Patrol spiked the tires on the wrong car traveling down Parley's Canyon.
Early Sunday morning Austin Trivett was headed from Summit County to Salt Lake in his dark blue Subaru. "I was coming down I-80 westbound by the Quarry Exit," he explained.
He didn't know that the Utah Highway Patrol was hot on the trail of a black BMW. The driver of that car was wanted for running a red light and speeding. Around a curve, UHP mistook Trivett's car for the BMW.
"They said because of the blue headlights they saw, they threw the spikes out at me," Trivett explained.
UHP Trooper Cameron Roden said, "When you're in a canyon road, you have twists and turns and not always can you see them a long way prior to getting the spikes on the roadway."
Trivett says it felt like hitting a speed bump. "Everything was mushy, so I went on the side of the road and there they were, flat as pancakes," he said of his car's tires.
"We regret he was put in that situation. Our apologies go out to him for the hassle he had to go through," Roden said.
Troopers never caught the driver of the BMW.
E-mail: abutterfield@ksl.com
