ST. GEORGE — A drug buy, initiated by local agents of the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, went wrong Monday with two suspects eluding arrest for several hours.
The two men were eventually arrested for investigation of distribution of methamphetamine and obstruction of justice.
Both were booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility following their arrest and held without bail.
When DEA agents moved in to make their arrest, the men fled in a white truck, but missed a freeway entrance ramp. They wound up driving down Convention Center Drive, a dead end, which is also the trailhead of a popular walking and biking path along the nearby Virgin River.
After the two men abandoned their vehicle at the trailhead, St. George police officers assisted the DEA in the search. One man was captured quickly, but another eluded officers for two hours, hiding among rocks and tamarisk trees near the river's edge.
The county's drug dog, Echo, was called in to help track the man, who lost a shoe during the escape.