Three men who led Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers on a high-speed chase Friday while ditching hundreds of fentanyl pills and meth out of their speeding vehicle could face multiple felony charges.
The men, whose IDs haven’t been released pending formal charges being filed, were clocked driving south out of Lander on Highway 28 going “well over 100 mph in a 70 mph zone” at about 11:05 a.m., WHP Officer Arron Healy told Cowboy State Daily.
They then led the trooper on a high-speed chase along the highway until they got to South Pass, where the trooper broke off the pursuit because of unsafe road conditions, Healy said.
“They started on Wyoming 28 coming out of Lander and were going over South Pass, then discontinued,” he said. “On the other side (of the pass) at about milepost 8, another trooper picked the pursuit up, and (the driver) ran again.”
The chase continued until the car was finally stopped about 8 miles east of Farson, after the vehicle had been hit with spike strips put down by the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office and troopers performed a pair of tactical driving “PIT” maneuvers.
Dump, Baby, Dump
As the Wyoming Highway Patrol picked up the pursuit of the vehicle on the other side of South Pass, that’s when two passengers started ditching large amounts of drugs out the windows, Healy said.
“Right about that time, they started dumping large amounts of drugs outside the vehicle — meth and fentanyl — about 800 pills,” he said.
When the vehicle finally came to a stop, the two passengers fled on foot, but the driver didn’t, Healy said.
While the passengers were caught and detained, the driver seemed to be struggling medically and was transported to a hospital suffering from an apparent drug overdose, he said.
The passengers were chased down and arrested on suspicion of felony possession of drugs, while the driver wasn’t immediately arrested pending his medical treatment, Healy said.
However, it’s likely the driver will face similar charges as his passengers, along with others for attempting to elude law enforcement.
A firearm also was found in the vehicle.
“There could be several other charges racked up,” Healy said. “There’s a lot more layers to peel back on this.”
This is an active investigation and more information about the drivers, drugs and what they could be charged with will be released as it’s available, Healy said.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
