Gas theft in Beaver results in high speed pursuit on southbound I-15

SOUTHERN UTAH — At about 5:45 p.m., Wednesday, a high speed pursuit was initiated by a Beaver County Sheriff’s deputy near exit 109 in Beaver and continued south on Interstate 15 for about 44 miles until the vehicle was stopped near Enoch in Iron County and one man was arrested.

The pursuit was the result of a gas theft at the Beaver Valley Chevron at exit 109 of I-15 in Beaver,  that was reported to a deputy who was currently at that location, Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Ryan Bauer said.

The deputy then followed the car from the gas station to I-15 and when he attempted to stop the vehicle the chase began, Bauer said.

Joining in the pursuit were 3 UHP officers, a canine officer from Cedar City Police and from the Iron County Sheriff’s Department.

The pursuit continued southbound on I-15 where road spikes were set up at mile marker 78 near Paragonah which were unsuccessful in stopping the car, he said.

The pursuit continued southbound reaching speeds of up to 105 miles-per- hour and spikes were set up at mile marker 71  near Summit which resulted in the right front tire going flat, Bauer said.

A felony stop was executed after the car was stopped near Enoch in Iron County about 20 minutes after the pursuit began and  one man was taken into custody and there were no passengers in the car, he said.

There were no drugs or contraband found inside of the car, which was a white Cadillac with a Connecticut license plate number that showed registration information that did not match the vehicle, Bauer said.

Police arrested Rafael Alejandro Abreu, 31, from New York City, New York, and he was transported and booked into the Beaver County Jail. He faces a class-B misdemeanor charge of fuel theft and a third-degree felony charge of fleeing and evading, bail being set at $6,000, Beaver County Sheriff’s Lt. Keith Draper said.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Related Posts

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2014, all rights reserved.

utah-highway-patrol

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

8 Comments

  • Pay First Then Pump January 9, 2014 at 2:50 pm

    What? How is it possible to steal gas this day and age? Everywhere I get gas its pay first then pump. They must have used a fake card or Beaver UT gas pumps are still in the dark ages!

  • ladybugavenger January 9, 2014 at 4:07 pm

    I didn’t think about that Pay First Then Pump, I thought don’t steal gas while a cop is on the prpperty LOL

  • Tom January 9, 2014 at 4:09 pm

    Its stupid to run from the police, but it is just as stupid for police to continue a pursuit when it reaches those speeds. They are being just as impulsive and reckless as the person running from them.

    • Festus January 9, 2014 at 6:01 pm

      O ya because we should just let everyone get away in pursuits… That won’t want to make more people run from the police..

  • Gary January 9, 2014 at 4:22 pm

    That was going to be my questions Pay. You either use a card at the pump FIRST or pay inside FIRST. A fake card is a good possibility though. I do have to chuckle though at the priority. Evading the enforcers is worse than stealing, felony compared to a misdemeanor.

  • Annie January 9, 2014 at 6:33 pm

    Probably another illegal.

  • Dan Lester January 9, 2014 at 7:45 pm

    There are places that only require advance payment after dark. The clerk inside can see the car plate on video and report it if the person runs. I don’t know that Chevron, but know there are still many such.

  • Tom January 10, 2014 at 1:51 pm

    I didnt say they should let them get away with it. Its just not safe to put everyone else in danger. There are other ways to go about it. Just because a cop is driving doesn’t mean that they are being any smarter than the criminal.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.