ST. GEORGE — A suspect is in jail following a police pursuit set in motion when a Hurricane officer attempted to stop the vehicle that instead, headed south on Interstate 15, where the chase continued into Washington City and the driver reportedly ditched the SUV and was apprehended shortly thereafter.
The arrest stems from a pursuit that began in Hurricane when a patrol officer noticed there was no license plate on a green Chevrolet Trailblazer, nor was there a temporary tag visible to police. When the officer pulled out and activated the emergency lights on their patrol vehicle to follow the SUV, the suspect sped away, according to charging documents filed with the courts.
The suspect, Brody Frank Sanders, 36, reportedly ran a number of stop signs and blew through several intersections as the Chevrolet crossed over into the center lane to pass other motorists. Once the SUV reached I-15 heading south, the pursuit in Hurricane was terminated.
The suspect exited the interstate and continued into Washington City, where an officer noticed the driver was not wearing a seat belt. According to the report, the officer pulled out into traffic to stop the car, and the suspect turned into the parking lot of an apartment complex and sped through the lot with the officer in tow.
The driver’s actions, the officer noted, were a display of his “disregard of public safety and (the) residents of this apartment complex,” and at that point, the officer terminated the pursuit in Washington City.
Meanwhile, officers from Hurricane and Washington City continued to search for the suspect’s SUV, which later turned up just north of Washington Parkway near 800 East, the officer noted in the report.
Minutes later, two officers came upon Sanders during a foot search. The officer also noted that the license plate was missing from the SUV, which had caught the attention of police in Hurricane. Authorities also discovered that the Vehicle Identification Number, or VIN, that was located near the bottom of the windshield was covered with “a single Band-Aid.”
After scraping away the bandage to expose the numbers, a records check revealed the registration was canceled and there was no insurance on file for the SUV. Officers then prepared the vehicle for impound.
During a search of the SUV, officers found the license plates shoved under the driver’s seat with the registration stickers still attached showing they expired in August. Authorities also found a backpack that contained a plastic baggie of suspected marijuana and four cell phones.
In the meantime, the Hurricane Police officer involved in the initial pursuit responded to the scene and transported Sanders to Purgatory Correctional Facility and he was booked into jail facing multiple charges submitted by both agencies and filed Thursday.
Sanders faces three third-degree felony charges, including two counts of failing to stop at command of police and one count of vehicle parts without identification for covering the Chevrolet’s VIN.
He also faces two counts of reckless driving, one count each of operating a vehicle without insurance, operating a vehicle without registration and possession of marijuana and paraphernalia – each a misdemeanor, as well as three traffic infractions. The suspect was also booked into jail on three misdemeanor warrants.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other 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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