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GREEN RIVER, Emery County — A high-speed chase with a stolen vehicle ended in a large search effort at an abandoned military facility in eastern Utah and the arrests of two men.
On Tuesday, a Utah Highway Patrol trooper was on state Route 19 in Green River, in Emery County, when a vehicle traveling 54 mph in a 40 mph zone went by, according to a police booking affidavit. The trooper attempted to pull the vehicle over but the driver fled, reaching a top speed of 104 mph, the affidavit states.
The trooper pursued the vehicle into the abounded Utah Launch Complex White Sands Missile Range.
"At an average speed of 75 mph, the vehicle attempted to evade through the base. After 3 miles, the suspects … stopped the vehicle at a bunker and jumped out," according to the affidavit.
Deputies from the Emery County and Grand County sheriff's offices responded to the scene to assist in searching for the suspects, along with police K-9s and the Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter.
The two men were eventually found "hiding together under metal debris in a culvert," the affidavit states.
Investigators said they later discovered that the vehicle the men were in was reported stolen out of South Jordan and the license plate was stolen out of West Valley. Marijuana and drug paraphernalia were found inside the car, the affidavit states.
Cruz Enrique Ramos Linan, 23, and Jorge Hernandez, 20, were booked into the Emery County Jail for investigation of being in a stolen vehicle, failing to stop at the command of police, marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.
