Three-hour chase by police ends in 3 arrests (The Spectrum)

Three-hour chase by police ends in 3 arrests

BY NUR KAUSAR • nkausar@thespectrum.com • April 24, 2009

CEDAR CITY - A three-hour chase involving nearly 20 law enforcement officers and four dogs ended in the arrests of three men Wednesday, two of who were named undocumented immigrants.

Iron County Sheriff's deputy Wade Lee pulled over the driver of a vehicle around 5 p.m. Wednesday for speeding, when he noticed a pipe used for marijuana in the open glove box.

Lee said the suspects turned over the substance, but on checking the driver's license, the deputy found it to be false.

He also found $12,000 worth of prescription medications, including narcotics, which the driver had been paid by a courier company to deliver to the Cedar City Wal-Mart, he said.

The driver, Diego Jimenez, age 21, of Las Vegas, ran from Lee and was caught 10 miles from where he ran, near Hamilton Fort at 8 p.m.

"We had 20 officers chasing him. The chase started around 5 p.m. near mile post 45. Then he ran onto the freeway, almost got hit, went through some trees and houses, and eventually got a ride from a motorist," Lee said.

An officer pulled that vehicle over to ask if the driver had seen Jimenez, and Lee arrested the suspect when he saw him running onto the road.

Lee said pharmacists at Wal-Mart were expecting the delivery, which he made himself, and found inventory to be correct.

The medications came from a Wal-Mart distribution center out of Hanford, Calif., according to the address given, but Lee did not have information on the courier company that allegedly paid Jimenez $150 to make the delivery.

The Iron County Drug Task Force is also working on the case and called the Drug Enforcement Administration, for which task force officer Melissa Fritz-Fuller said has policies for pharmaceuticals delivery.

"The DEA has very specific stipulations on transporting from a vendor to a pharmacy," she said. "The carrier has to be able to work here."

Jimenez is charged with forgery, failure to stop at the command of an officer, marijuana and paraphernalia possession and escape from custody. He is on hold by the INS, Lee said.

Maurico Jimenez, age 19, and Kyle Matthew Gutierrez, age 21, were also arrested during the traffic stop.