ST. GEORGE — A short pursuit on northbound Interstate 15 ended quickly Tuesday night after spike strips deployed just north of the Hurricane Exit hit their mark, shredding the fleeing suspect’s tires and disabling the vehicle that was reported as stolen less than an hour before, police said.
Shortly before 10:30 p.m., Washington County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a stolen vehicle on northbound Interstate 15 near Exit 4 involving a Hyundai Sonata with Georgia plates. Information that was provided by the car’s owner, who had a tracking device on the car that was tied into their cell phone, was used to update emergency dispatch to the vehicle’s location.
The deputy spotted the vehicle that appeared to be slowing down and speeding with its emergency flashers activated as it continued north on I-15. Once the deputy confirmed it was the vehicle reportedly stolen through emergency dispatch, he started following the car with his lights and sirens activated as the pursuit reached speeds of 100 mph, according to charging documents filed with the court.
The Hyundai hit the spikes deployed seconds before at Exit 16, which shredded both driver’s side tires as the car continued for another mile before the driver pulled over and stopped. Deputies approached the car with guns drawn and ordered the driver out before he was taken into custody.
The driver, later identified as 19-year-old Trevin Forsgren of Layton, was arrested for possession of a stolen car and fleeing from police. When the car was searched prior to transport, deputies reportedly recovered syringes, prescription pills, a marijuana pipe and other paraphernalia.
The suspect told deputies that “he had been car hopping all night in the Ogden suburb of Roy looking for things to steal,” the deputy noted in the report, when he came across the unoccupied Hyundai parked next to Roy High School with the engine running. The suspect jumped in the car and headed south.
At some point, the report states, the Hyundai was in Nevada and was heading north on I-15 when Nevada Highway Patrol troopers attempted to stop the vehicle, which was unsuccessful and the car continued into Utah. When deputies in Washington County asked the suspect why he didn’t stop during the pursuit in Nevada, Forsgren’s response was “he was on probation in Ogden and was in the stolen car and was not going to stop,” the report states.
The suspect was transported and booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility on possession of a stolen vehicle, evading and misdemeanor drug offenses. He is being held on $10,000 bail, along with a probation hold that was added Thursday.
According to court records, this was not the first time Forsgren is suspected of fleeing from the police in a stolen vehicle.
In April, the suspect was involved in another pursuit in Ogden after officers observed a vehicle heading down the road at night without its headlights on, and then realized it was the same pickup that was reported stolen from a hotel parking lot in downtown Ogden earlier that same day. When officers came up behind the pickup with their lights flashing, the pickup sped off and was not pursued.
The pickup was located abandoned in a cul-de-sac the following day by police. While canvassing the neighborhood, officers learned that a white man in his 20s wearing a red hoodie .was seen near the truck. Shortly after, a tow truck was dispatched to impound the vehicle.
The tow truck driver arrived on scène and told an Ogden City Police officer that he saw a young man in a red hoodie in the area acting suspicious, and then the suspect sprinted off as soon as they saw the patrol cars at the scene.
Officers began searching for the suspect, later identified as Forsgren, who was located a short while later wearing a red hoodie and appeared to be out of breath and panting. The officer also noted that when asked, the suspect told police he was running because he was late getting home and he needed to get there quickly.
According to the report, technicians processing the scene where the truck was discovered found several fingerprints that were positively identified as belonging to the suspect who was taken into custody and questioned by police.
Forsgren allegedly admitted to an officer that he was in the vehicle and ran from officers, but denied stealing the pickup, saying that “Kameron” gave it to him, and only later did he admit knowing it was stolen. He was booked into jail and charged with second-degree felony theft by receiving, which was later amended to a third-degree felony that he pleaded guilty to in September. He spent 70 days in jail and during sentencing, he was credited for time served, fined and placed on 36 months probation.
The recent arrest violated his probation, thus the hold was placed on him following Tuesday’s arrest in Washington County. The suspect remains in custody as of the writing of this report.
This report is based on information provided by law enforcement 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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