Add high-speed chases to the growing list of societal ills that can be linked to Utah's highest-in-the-nation-per-capita meth problem.
"When we have a meth-related crime, flight is a common reaction," West Valley Lt. Charles Illsley said. "The number of chases has escalated as meth use has risen."Illsley blames the propensity to flee on the apparent paranoia meth instills in its users. Meth, which is highly addictive and creates an intense "high" for its users, breeds irritability and aggressive, irrational behavior.
The Department of Public Safety's Crime in Utah Publication in 1998 said meth is often linked to child abuse cases because of that drug-induced paranoia and can cause people to "turn on" law enforcement in extremely violent ways.
Two weeks ago Murray police officers were involved in a short car chase and lengthy foot pursuit by a man who had meth-making material in his car. Last month, investigators in Layton recovered cocaine from a truck that led police on a high-speed chase, which eventually ended in a fatal crash.
But Salt Lake County Sheriff's Sgt. Chris Bertram agrees that most pursuits can be traced to Utah's drug of choice.
"I wouldn't necessarily say we're having more pursuits," Bertram said. "But almost any crime, including chases, can be attributed back to meth."
Monday night Illsley and Bertram's departments joined forces with police units from the Utah Highway Patrol, Sandy, Midvale, West Jordan, Adult Probation and Parole and the U.S. Marshals to bring down a fleeing suspect in a stolen Infiniti.
When the 58-minute chase finally ended, police discovered the stolen car's trunk contained a fully stocked meth lab.
"It was pretty amazing," Illsley said. "This guy managed to outmaneuver every attempt we made to lay down spikes or stop him."
The pursuit began in West Valley City at 8:40 p.m. when officer Todd Gray spotted a stolen car that had eluded police in a chase about two weeks ago. When the driver noticed Gray was following him he fled and led police on a late-night run that entered Tooele County before twisting back to the Salt Lake Valley, eventually ending when sheriff's officers penned the car in a dead-end Draper street, Bertram said.
"I-215, I-80, I-15, Redwood Road, 3500 South, 2100 South, 8000 West, almost any major road in Salt Lake County, he went there," Bertram said.
The suspect, while dodging police at speeds reaching 120 mph, managed to dump large amounts of ephedrine, a soap-flake-like substance used in meth production, from the car. The draft from the open window caused the lightweight flakes to blow back in the car, caking the upholstery and the driver in hazardous material, Illsley said.
Between five and 10 efforts were made to pop the car's tires with road spikes, and police agencies throughout the valley helped out by blocking intersections as the driver and pursuing officers sped through. Eventually, marked cars backed off and a sheriff's helicopter and unmarked cars followed the individual down I-15 and into Draper.
"It was a true countywide team effort," Bertram said. "We had great coordination and were able to utilize one radio frequency during the chase."
A few Draper houses in the area of 300 East and 14800 South were evacuated as Hazmat crews came in to decontaminate the ephedrine caked-suspect and the car. No one was hurt during the hourlong ordeal or the cleanup process, Bertram said.
Besides five outstanding warrants, the Salt Lake County man, 27, was booked into Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of possessing a stolen car, evading police officers and operating a clandestine lab.