2 charged with drug possession, reckless endangerment following pursuit that ended north of Cedar City

Stock image | Photo by Chalabala/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

CEDAR CITY — Two people were arrested Saturday afternoon following a police pursuit that started with an attempted traffic stop on Interstate 15 and ended up with the suspects being captured on foot in a residential neighborhood in the tiny community of Summit several miles north of Cedar City.

Jacob Armstrong, 48, and Andrea Lee Adams, 43, were both booked into Iron County Jail on Saturday evening, where they each face multiple charges, including drug possession and reckless endangerment.

According to the probable cause statements filed in support of their arrests, a Utah Department of Natural Resources officer who was passing through the area had seen a suspected stolen vehicle that was being pulled over by a U.S. Bureau of Land Management officer on northbound I-15 near mile marker 75.

The vehicle in question was a white Chevy Tahoe that had allegedly been stolen out of Salt Lake County, with stolen license plates that didn’t match the vehicle.

According to the charging documents, the driver of the Tahoe drove through a UDOT fence and into the gore area (referring to the small, triangular piece of land that lies between divergent roads) adjacent to the Exit 75 on-ramp before leading the BLM and state parks officers on a chase that reportedly reached speeds of more than 100 mph. 

“The pursuit continued for several miles on both dirt and paved roadways at excessive speeds for roughly 10 minutes before we lost sight of the suspect vehicle in the town of Summit,” the arresting officer wrote.

Soon thereafter, however, both suspects were spotted on foot in a nearby neighborhood, where a resident had confronted them at gunpoint for trespassing on his property.

Iron County Jail, Cedar City, Utah, Nov. 24, 2021 | File photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

“I pointed my firearm at the armed male, who complied with my commands,” the state parks ranger wrote in the charging documents, adding that the man was later identified as “a homeowner who was armed to defend his house from the unknown two parties running into his yard.”

Armstrong and Adams were subsequently placed under arrest. Besides the stolen vehicle, officers also recovered various drugs, including methamphetamine, heroin and prescription medication, in addition to drug paraphernalia, ID cards and financial cards that were suspected of being stolen. 

Armstrong, who had allegedly been driving the Tahoe, was wanted out of Colorado. He faces as many as 16 criminal charges associated with the incident, including felony counts of receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, failing to stop at command of police, unlawful acquisition of a financial card and possessing another person’s identification documents.

He also faces several misdemeanor charges, including counts of drug possession, theft, reckless endangerment, failure to remain at the scene of an accident and operating a vehicle without a valid driver’s license.

Adams, meanwhile, faces four misdemeanor charges: two counts of drug possession, one count of possession of drug paraphernalia and one count of reckless endangerment.

This report is based on information provided by law enforcement or court documents 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.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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