DAILY HERALD | Posted: Monday, July 21, 2008 11:00 pm
Just because your car is fast enough to outrun a police officer doesn't mean you'll get away scot-free.
Police say that's the lesson a Spanish Fork man learned after ditching an officer at 150 mph in his Dodge Viper.
According to an affidavit filed in Provo's 4th District Court, a Lindon police officer attempted to pull the yellow Viper over on 700 North after another officer saw it spinning its tires at a stoplight. But when the officer turned on his lights and siren near 700 North and 1100 West, the driver sped away.
According to police, the driver crossed the street's dividing line to pass another vehicle on the left, then ran red lights at Pleasant Grove Boulevard and at the Interstate 15 onramp. Officers lost sight of the car after the driver turned his headlights off and headed south on I-15, court documents said. Later, Lindon officers were informed that the owner of the car had been contacted by a Utah County sheriff's deputy.
Lindon police said that 33-year-old Mark S. Mason admitted to evading police at 150 mph before getting off the freeway at 1600 North in Orem and hiding his car in an industrial area near Geneva Road.
He told police that he had a friend pick him up and drive him back to Spanish Fork after hiding his Viper, court documents stated.
Mason was booked into the Utah County Jail on charges of evading, exhibition of speed, two red light violations, improper passing, driving without headlights on, speeding and reckless driving.