Late night in Mesquite ends in rollover in the Gorge

Brown Jeep Grand Cherokee lands 20-feet off of the roadway on I-15 after rolling multiple times Saturday morning, Mohave County, Arizona, June 24, 2017 | Photo courtesy of Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire Department, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A night in Mesquite, Nevada, resulted in an early morning rollover on Interstate 15 that ended with a man being jailed Saturday morning.

Shortly before 7 a.m. MST emergency personnel were dispatched to a single-vehicle rollover reported on Interstate 15 northbound near mile marker 12 in Arizona, Arizona Department of Public Safety Trooper Tom Callister said.

Officers from Mesquite Police Department respond to a rollover on I-15 in the Gorge early Saturday morning, Mohave County, Arizona, June 24, 2017 | Photo courtesy of Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire District, St. George News

Upon arrival officers found a brown Jeep Grand Cherokee more than 20 feet off the right shoulder of the interstate sitting on its side, driver’s side down, with two men out of the SUV waiting nearby.

The 44-year-old driver told officers that he and his passenger were returning to his residence in St. George after spending Friday evening in Mesquite, Callister said, adding that the driver admitted to drinking in Mesquite at that time.

Officers determined that the man was heading north on I-15 and nearing mile marker 12 when he lost control of the Jeep, which went careening into the concrete median before veering sharply to the right. The SUV continued off of the roadway and rolled multiple times until it came to rest sitting on its side 20 feet into the desert brush.

During the crash investigation, officers found that the man was driving on a suspended Utah driver’s license while allegedly operating his vehicle with a blood alcohol level that was more than 2.5 times the legal limit, Callister said.

The driver sustained minor injuries in the crash but refused medical treatment or transport at the scene, while the passenger was uninjured in the crash.

“Both the driver and his passenger were wearing their seat belts which prevented any serious injuries for a pretty significant rollover collision,” Callister said.

The driver was arrested for aggravated DUI while driving on a suspended license and was later booked into the Mesquite Detention Center in Nevada.

The Jeep sustained extensive damage and was towed from the scene.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety, Mohave County Sheriff’s Office, Mesquite Police Department and Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire District responded and tended to the scene.

This report is based on statements from 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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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

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1 Comment

  • utahdiablo June 25, 2017 at 9:20 pm

    you’ll be seeing much more of this once Marijuana is in the mix from Nevada….July 1st

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