BEAVER, Utah — A man awaiting trial in California for allegedly stealing a car was arrested in Utah on Tuesday after police say he led officers on a 60-mile chase in a stolen vehicle — 25 miles of which he drove the wrong way on the freeway.
Adarian Deantae Murrell, 25, was booked into the Beaver County Jail and charged on Wednesday in 5th District Court with possessing a stolen vehicle, a second-degree felony; two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of failing to stop for police, third-degree felonies; reckless driving, marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, class B misdemeanors; using license plates registered to another vehicle, a class C misdemeanor; and four traffic infractions including driving on the wrong side of the road, speeding, illegally crossing the median and entering or exiting the highway illegally.
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The incident began when Murrell, who was driving a Lexus SUV, was spotted by a Utah Highway Patrol trooper speeding near 600 S. Main in Beaver, according to a police booking affidavit. The trooper attempted to pull the vehicle over, but the driver kept going.
“I observed the vehicle traveling at an estimated speed of 70 mph in the 40 mph zone on Main Street as it approached the north interchange of I-15, displaying disregard for the safety of the persons who were in the area. The subject then entered I-15 … heading north and accelerated to a speed of over 120 mph,” the arresting trooper wrote in the affidavit.
At one point, Murrell traveled north in the southbound lanes of I-15, according to the arrest report.
“The vehicle continued traveling the wrong way until it reached the I-70/I-15 junction,” the affidavit states. “The vehicle then crossed the median area and continued northbound in the northbound lanes at speeds of over 100 mph.”
Several miles later, Murrell again crossed into oncoming traffic and drove the wrong way on the freeway. He was stopped when a UHP patrol vehicle intentionally hit the fleeing vehicle head-on, according to the affidavit.
The UHP added in a prepared statement that after crossing into oncoming traffic for the final time, Murrell “began driving on the far shoulder of the northbound lanes, still heading southbound at about 25-35 mph.” A trooper then “pinned the vehicle at low speeds while it was off the road on the far shoulder, and the suspect was taken into custody.”
Investigators discovered that the vehicle Murrell was driving was reported stolen in Southern California on Aug. 30. Drug paraphernalia and marijuana were located throughout the vehicle, and Murrell was still wearing an ankle monitor from a prior case, the affidavit says.
“The subject has multiple charges in his criminal history of grand theft auto and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. The subject was located and stopped in a reported stolen vehicle,” troopers wrote in the affidavit. “The subject failed to stop for multiple law enforcement officers. The suspect vehicle had to be crashed in order to get him to stop. The suspect fled approximately 60 miles and drove (the) wrong way on I-15 for approximately 25 miles.”
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