Suspect in jail on felony evading, 7 no-bail warrants following 100 mph chase that ends on I-15

ST. GEORGE — A high-speed pursuit in Hurricane Sunday morning ended in the arrest of a LaVerkin man who was wanted on seven no-bail warrants.

2019 file photo for illustrative purposes only of Hurricane Police officers responding to North State Street, Hurricane, Utah, Dec. 17, 2019 | Photo by Ron Chaffin, St. George News

Ryan Lane Blackmore, 45, also faces a third-degree felony charge of failing to stop or respond to command of police after he reportedly took off when an officer attempted to pull over the car.

Blackmore was arrested and booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility, while a front-seat passenger Tonya Wittwer Jocelyn, 47, of Hurricane, also was transported to jail facing misdemeanor charges filed after she also took off running from southbound Interstate 15, according to charging documents filed in 5th District Court.

The incident began when an officer attempted to stop a vehicle late Saturday night for reportedly running a stop sign in the 800 block of West 100 North in Hurricane. Instead of pulling over, the report states, the suspect continued onto State Street before heading west toward I-15.

According to the report, the suspect continued east along state Route 9 at more than 100 mph, blowing through a stop sign and a red light as the vehicle drew closer to I-15.

Meanwhile, officers deployed several sets of spike strips along the highway to slow the vehicle, attempts that were unsuccessful as the suspect swerved to avoid the strips. At one point, the officer noted, Blackmore reportedly crossed over into oncoming traffic to avoid shredding the vehicle’s tires.

The suspect proceeded onto I-15 south, while officers deployed another set of strips just ahead – a deployment that was successful in puncturing both tires on the passenger side of the car. Blackmore had to slow the vehicle before he stopped abruptly near the St. George Boulevard exit.

Police also said that both suspects ran from the vehicle and the driver was quickly taken into custody, while the passenger was apprehended by officers shortly thereafter.

In addition to the felony evading charge, Blackmore also was alo booked on seven no-bail warrants for unrelated cases, several of which were drug cases and one involved a drug and forgery case he was convicted on in 2019. The warrant was issued in May following a probation violation. In that case, officers found counterfeit bills during a drug arrest, which Blackmore said he got from a friend who ordered the fake money on the internet.

Following the pursuit, Blackmore was formally charged with felony evading and he remains in custody on the no-bail warrants. Jocelyn was subsequently charged with the misdemeanor offense and she also remains in custody at this time.

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. 

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

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