MOHAVE COUNTY, Ariz. — A driver was arrested for suspicion of DUI after she rolled her vehicle and then fled on foot, triggering a search in triple digit temperatures near Utah’s Port of Entry Wednesday night.
At approximately 9:20 p.m. a call came into the St. George Communications Center reporting a rollover on northbound Interstate 15 near Exit 27, Arizona Department of Public Safety’s Highway Patrol Trooper Gregg McBride said.
Once officers arrived, the trooper said, they found an empty red Toyota Camry near the emergency lane on the northbound side, facing south and extensively damaged.
At that point officers and firefighters began looking for the driver. After nearly an hour the emergency personnel located the woman over 200 yards away on top of a ridge.
The woman was checked by medical personnel and later arrested under suspicion of driving under the influence, McBride said. She was transported to the Mesquite Detention Center in Nevada.
From the investigation, officers determined the woman was driving north on Interstate 15 from Mesquite, Nevada, to St. George, Utah, McBride said, As she was approaching a curve in the road past Exit 27 she lost control of the vehicle and may have overcorrected.
At that point the car went spinning out of control and slammed into the embankment before coming to a stop near the right shoulder facing the wrong direction. The woman then left the vehicle and set off on foot into an area east of the Interstate until she was found by officers.
The Toyota sustained extensive damage from the rollover and was towed from the scene. No injuries or other vehicles were involved, the trooper said.
Officers from the St. George Police and Fire departments and Gold Cross Ambulance in St. George, Utah, Arizona Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol and Utah Highway Patrol responded to the incident.
This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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Toyota Camry extensively damaged after rollover on Interstate 15 northbound near the Utah Port of Entry, Mohave County, Ariz., July 27, 2016 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News Officers and emergency personnel after locating driver who left scene after rollover and was arrested, Interstate 15 northbound near the Utah Port of Entry, Mohave County, Ariz., July 27, 2016 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News Driver was found on top of ridge by officers who later arrested the woman for suspicion of DUI after rollover on Interstate 15 northbound near the Utah Port of Entry, Mohave County, Ariz., July 27, 2016 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News Toyota Camry being towed after rollover where driver fled and was later arrested, Interstate 15 northbound near the Utah Port of Entry, Mohave County, Ariz., July 27, 2016 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News Numerous emergency vehicles respond to rollover on Interstate 15 northbound near the Utah Port of Entry, Mohave County, Ariz., July 27, 2016 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News
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