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Man Leads Police on High-speed Pursuit Through Park City Neighborhood on July 4

Park City Police

A 21-year-old Park City man led officers on a high-speed chase through the Thaynes Canyon neighborhood on Sunday, July 4.

 

Park City Police Department Public Information Officer Phil Kirk said the patrol officer tried to make a stop for a traffic violation at about 8 p.m. near the intersection of Kearns and Bonanza drives. The driver of a silver Dodge Caliber, Humberto Rodriguez-Venegas, is a suspect in a prior fleeing case. He was arrested and booked into jail with charges of evading the police, driving with a revoked license and failure to install an interlock device that was court-ordered due to a prior DUI conviction.

 

“What initiated this pursuit was a traffic violation the driver failed to stop for, and then turned into a pursuit,” Kirk said.

 

Kirk said the earlier chase occurred last January in the parking lot of McPolin Elementary School at night.

 

Gina Van Luven was on the lawn of a Payday condominium unit on the 1700 block of Three Kings Drive on July 4. She said there had been dogs, children, and many pedestrians and bicyclists on the street before the chase, but the road appeared empty of pedestrians when the suspect’s car raced by. She said the police SUV was not keeping up with the speeding car as it ran through the winding neighborhood streets.

 

"It looked like it was going at least 100 miles an hour, but it's a small road so, it's like a racetrack,” Van Luven said. “You know it's curvy, and so it's just zooming, and then, within seconds, it was whizzing by us." 

Kirk said the car’s speeds ranged from 50 to 60 miles per hour through the neighborhood, but officers didn't continue a high-speed pursuit due to safety concerns. Rodriguez-Venegas entered the parking garage at The Lodges and Kirk said that within minutes, officers were able to locate his car and arrest him.

 

“It was just too unsafe for the public's interest to continue the pursuit because we got into a residential area where there are pedestrians,” he said. “Our officers did the right thing and terminated the pursuit. Fortunately, with some good searching in the area, good police work on the part of the, especially the assisting officer, they located the vehicle and eventually the suspect, took him into custody."

 

Kirk said the Summit County Attorney's office would handle the case because the charge of evading the police is a felony. If convicted, it is punishable by up to three years in jail and fines up to $5,000.

KPCW reporter Carolyn Murray covers Summit and Wasatch County School Districts. She also reports on wildlife and environmental stories, along with breaking news. Carolyn has been in town since the mid ‘80s and raised two daughters in Park City.
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