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Sam Penrod reporting Police along the Wasatch Front are dealing with a rash of police chases in the last 24 hours, including four separate chases just this afternoon and evening.
Suspects have run for stealing cars, having a revoked license, one was even caught using drugs at a stoplight. Those are just some of the reasons over the last 24 hours that five drivers have tried running from the police.
The driver whose license had been revoked sped away from officers near Tooele this afternoon. The suspect ran several stop signs in the ten minute chase, which ended when a Utah Highway Patrol trooper got physical--- using his patrol car to stop the suspect.
Jared Garcia/ Utah Highway Patrol: "I attempted a pit manuever, was able to make contact with his vehicle, causing it to spin around and come to a stop."
Tonight in Utah County a man allegedly stole a truck. Troopers spotted it on the freeway, beginning a high speed chase. It ended in a farmer's field, with help from a fence.
Jared Mattingly Car Theft Victim: "Just got done painting it. Got the hood and other things done. Back it goes."
In West Valley tonight, police officers say they witnessed a driver inject drugs into his veins while he was waiting at a stoplight at 2700 West 3200 South.
It was a short pursuit on the road, even shorter on the ground when the suspect tried to run.
In Juab County yesterday, a suspect wanted in a domestic assault led officers on a chase for several miles. The man sped through Nephi and was finally arrested after trying to escape on foot.
All of these chases come at the beginning of a statewide program to crack down on people who aren't wearing seat belts.
Law enforcment officers call seat belts a lifesaver for automobiles, saying you are 17 times more likely to die in a car crash if you aren't buckled up.
Trooper Tyler Roberts/Utah Highway Patrol: "Somebody's been ejected through a windshield. You think in your mind, it would have been so much easier to have that seat belt on and you would have walked away."
The Buckled or Busted campaign will run the next two weeks, through the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
