Wyoming Troopers Arrest California Man After High-Speed Chase on Tuesday
A Riverside, Calif., man was found not to be a bank robbery suspect after a high-speed chase on Interstate 80 on Tuesday, but he sure drove fast like one.
The Wyoming Highway Patrol was looking for a vehicle linked to a bank robbery in Evanston early Tuesday, and saw one -- a 2017 Buick LaCrosse -- matching the description on eastbound Interstate 80 about five miles west of Green River, according to a news release from Patrol Sgt. David Wagener.
About 2 p.m., a trooper pulled the car over and got out of his patrol cruiser.
And that's when the driver of the LaCrosse took off.
The Buick eluded troopers at speeds reaching 130 mph.
Sweetwater County Sheriff's deputies deployed spikes on the Buick's tires about 14 miles down the road.
A mile later, the car exited I-80, traversed a ditch, crashed through a right-of-way fence, traveled across a service road and became disabled in an open sagebrush field.
The driver and lone occupant in the Buick, Fane Tatofi, 30, led troopers on a brief foot chase before he surrendered without further incident.
The Buick was reported stolen from Fremont, Calif., on Nov. 29.
Tatofi was taken to the Sweetwater County jail in Rock Springs and was charged with possession of stolen property, possession of burglary tools, fleeing and eluding, reckless endangering, possession of methamphetamine, property destruction, and various driving offenses.
No one was injured during the pursuit and Tatofi's apprehension.
Wagener's news release did not indicate if authorities have found the burglary suspect.