EVANSTON — A man is dead following a nearly hourlong high-speed chase through parts of Evanston and Uinta County. According to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, the man, whom authorities have yet to identify, died by suicide following the chase.
“The death occurred during the attempted apprehension of a male sought by law enforcement. At this point in the investigation, evidence indicates the male ... [suspect] appears to have taken his own life,” states a press release issued by DCI.
The incident took place off County Road 173, past Sulpher Creek Reservoir, Thursday.
According to scanner traffic, local officers were searching for a Chevy pickup truck with a camper shell, just after 10 a.m. One officer reported the suspected vehicle traveling 45 mph down Front Street heading toward Hwy. 150. Speeds reached up to 85 mph, according to scanner traffic, before the suspect turned at the Sulpher Creek Reservoir turnoff. That road, County Road 173, is marked as closed for the winter and has had limited maintenance since fall.
Speeds on 173 weren’t as fast due to poor road conditions, but the vehicle reportedly went off road at least twice and was able to maintain control of the vehicle. The vehicle, however, became stuck near Spotted Hawk Road, where local officers and deputies then staged.
Officials notified nearby residents to shelter in place during the incident.
Uinta County Road and Bridge was called in to plow a road to the stranded pickup, and a heavy equipment operator was making headway by around noon Thursday, when the Herald was at the scene.
Sometime afterward, however, the suspect reportedly took his own life.
DCI is investigating the incident.
“Wyoming DCI is routinely requested to conduct objective and thorough investigation of law enforcement critical incidents around the state,” the press release reads. “These investigations consist of, among other investigative procedures, scene processing, physical evidence and forensic processing, digital evidence analysis, and interviews. At the conclusion of this investigation, a detailed report will be prepared, internally reviewed, and provided to the Uinta County Attorney’s Office for review and charging decisions. All available resources will be made available to the Agents conducting this investigation to ensure the facts of what happened are collected in a timely, accurate and thorough manner.
“Because this is an on-going and open investigation, the names of the involved parties will not be released by DCI at this time. We do not anticipate releasing additional information until the investigation is complete and a prosecutorial review or decision has been made.”
