MURRAY, Utah (ABC 4 News) - A dangerous man is off the streets after leading Utah troopers on a high speed chase going the wrong way on the freeway. The whole thing was caught on camera by several police dash cams. You’ll only see it on ABC 4.
With guns drawn, and tempers flaring, dash camera video shows the moment Utah troopers ended last Friday's chaos on the freeway.
"This could've really been a catastrophic incident," said Sgt. Larry Mower, Utah Highway Patrol.
The Utah Highway Patrol tells ABC 4, 52-year-old Kirtley Greene of Taylorsville led them on a high speed chase going the wrong way against oncoming traffic. You can watch it in an ABC 4 exclusive dash cam video. A Jeep Grand Cherokee headed west on I-80 near 700 E., zooms past a state trooper in the eastbound lanes. Troopers said Greene then weaved through cars coming from I-15.
"So now the vehicle was going the wrong way on the freeway on I-15," said Mower.
They said Greene caused two separate crashes from cars trying to get out of his way, and troopers couldn't catch him until he tried exiting the freeway.
"I got him, he's getting off the 45th south on-ramp," said one trooper in pursuit.
You can see from two different angles, as troopers rammed into his car to tried and stop him. But somehow he got away. When Greene got back on the freeway, troopers pulled close enough to see he was smoking a bong pipe.
"We don't know for sure at this time what he was smoking, but we believe he was smoking methamphetamines," said Mower.
Greene got off on the next exit. That's when troopers stopped him for good. UHP quickly surrounded the car, and when Greene wouldn't follow orders, they smashed their way inside and pulled him out. Troopers said Greene offered no reason why he went wild on the freeway. But they don't think he could've said much if he tried.
"I actually watched medical personal working on him and his body started twitching and shaking, it almost looked like he might be going into an overdose," Mower said.
When blood tests come back in the next 4-8 weeks we should find out what this guy may have had in his system. In the mean time as you might imagine Greene is facing a long list of charges including DUI, reckless driving, and fleeing from police, just to name a few.
----
Follow Brian Carlson on Twitter: @tv_briancarlson