A 19-year-old man from Utah pulled off one of the most reckless escapes from law enforcement through a sudden and somewhat irrational high-speed police car chase. The Utah man even managed to evade the law successfully for one full month before getting caught in Utah after bragging about his GTA-esque stunt.
Apparently, the police car escape took place back on February 20 in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Local law enforcement merely wanted to pull over a sedan with missing license plates. However, the sedan driver, the aforementioned 19-year-old, chose to accelerate away, leading to a 95 MPH chase while running through red lights and narrowly avoiding collisions with other civilian vehicles on the way.
The police officers eventually gave up the pursuit after worrying about public safety, and the 19-year-old practically got away with it. More than a month after the chase, on March 23rd, the authorities managed to track down the 19-year-old fugitive after they were tipped off by videos online about the suspect bragging about his intense escape.
In one of the videos filmed in Utah, the 19-year-old even held a black handgun while shouting, “I’m in GTA, bro!” thanks to KSL’s transcripts. The other video was even an actual recording of the police pursuit from the perpetrator’s point of view, with several police vehicles visible in the rearview mirror.
In an effort to stay hidden from law enforcement, the 19-year-old even tore away the brown “wrap” on his car, turning the car silver so that the authorities wouldn’t recognize the vehicle.
Plenty of Time to Slow Down Behind Bars
All the escape efforts were in vain as the cops still managed to catch up to him– but mostly because the 19-year-old bragged about his crime online.
The 19-year-old has from Utah since been charged with failing to respond to an officer’s signal to stop and obstruction, third-degree felonies; reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor; reckless driving, a class B misdemeanor; and using a phone while driving, a class C misdemeanor.
It’s not clear what exactly led to the escape or what the 19-year-old’s motivations were for initiating a dangerous pursuit on Utah’s populated roads. However, the 19-year-old’s initial bailable misdemeanor with a minimum fine of $750 to $1,000 just got more expensive or might even warrant jail time in case he can’t pay up. Even worse, he might not be around once GTA 6 gets released sometime in Fall 2025
