An Idaho man was arrested on Sunday after leading multiple police officers on a high-speed chase through Grand Teton National Park and being caught on radar traveling 132 mph.
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3 years agoon
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This article first appeared on Cowboy State Daily.
By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily
An Idaho man was arrested on Sunday after leading multiple police officers on a high-speed chase through Grand Teton National Park and being caught on radar traveling 132 mph.
The man faces multiple counts, including driving under the influence, fleeing police officers, having an open container of alcohol, reckless driving and more. He received 10 citations, park spokesman CJ Adams told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday.
Although the man’s identity was not immediately released by park officials, U.S. District court filings showed a man identified as Jessie Perry was arrested on Sunday and charged with a variety of same state and federal counts as reported by Adams.
Adams said that the arrest capped an incident that began at around 3 p.m. Sunday, when an officer saw a 2015 gray Dodge truck at a high rate of speed, 108 mph, south on U.S. Highway 89 in the park, near Teton Point Turnout.
“Our law enforcement officer turned on their lights and sirens, but the vehicle did not pull over and continued at a high rate of speed, going even faster,” Adams said.
The truck continued further south, near the airport junction, when it was caught on radar traveling at 132 mph.
“The driver did come upon some traffic at the Gros Venture roundabout, but did not hit anyone,” Adams said. “The drivers in that area saw the police lights and all of them pulled over to the side of the road.”
Adams was unsure of how many cars were in the area when the driver came upon them. He pulled the vehicle over, which Adams said was likely in attempt to evade police, but he was caught and arrested by five law enforcement officers.
No one was hurt in the chase or arrest. The driver was the only person in his vehicle, and Adams confirmed he was ticketed for driving under the influence.
Adams said that while speeding is a fairly common occurrence in the park, a 132 mph chase is a very unique situation.
“These rates of speed are always dangerous, but especially this time of year and in a national park,” Adams said. “We do have migratory elk and moose in that area, and those are the animals people are coming here to see. There could be people pulled over to the side of the road to look, so it’s not only a danger to the person driving, but also a danger to other visitors and the wildlife.”
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