SPANISH FORK — It took nearly three weeks after a 50-mile crime spree claimed the life of Sgt. Cory Wride and wounded Deputy Greg Sherwood before charges were filed against the lone surviving suspect.

Acting Utah County Attorney Tim Taylor said Wednesday prosecutors decided to charge 17-year-old Meagan Grunwald after carefully reviewing dash cam videos and other evidence from the pursuit that stretched from Eagle Mountain to Nephi.

Grunwald is said to have been the driver that led police on a wild chase while Jose Angel Garcia-Juaregui is thought to have been the shooter who fired not only on Wride and Sherwood but also on a Utah Highway Patrol trooper and Juab County deputies; the 27-year-old was killed by authorities after a shootout near Nephi on Jan. 30.

Grunwald had been held in a juvenile detention center since the incident but was arrested Tuesday and brought to the Utah County Jail where she was processed, and then was transferred to the Adult Detention Center in Salt Lake County.

Taylor said she is in Salt Lake County to prevent any accusation of a conflict of interest on Utah County’s part.

“The staff at the jail is more than adequate to take care of Meagan Grunwald,” said Sergeant Spencer Cannon, with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office. “It is not an uncommon practice to move those in custody to other facilities. We wouldn’t want her to get injured or hurt herself or say that we aren’t taking care of her. Those are allegations we don’t want to face.”

Taylor said the girl, who is being charged as an adult with aggravated murder, was as culpable as the deceased shooter during the cross-county crime spree.

It isn’t common in Utah to charge juveniles as adults, but it is also not unheard of, according to Cannon.

“There was a case that took place 30 years ago, February of 1984,” Cannon said. “Nick Clatterbuck, a foster child killed his foster parents. He is still serving his sentence in the Utah State Prison.”

Cannon said Grunwald’s parents have been interviewed, but nothing so far has connected them to the crime.

Taylor said the motive for the crime spree remains unclear, but might have been related to an arrest warrant issued a day earlier for Garcia-Juaregui that alleged violations of his parole conditions. He had served four and a half years for attempted homicide and was paroled from a Utah prison in December 2012.

Grunwald met Garcia-Juaregui last July and began spending most of her time with him, pulling away from old friends, court records show. The two were living together for several months at her mother’s house. Charging documents indicated that witnesses have told police Grunwald was pregnant with Garcia-Juaregui’s child but Taylor said Wednesday that has yet to be confirmed.

Initial court documents filed on Tuesday showed Grunwald was being charged with 17 crimes including multiple counts of murder but court records show some of those charges were duplicated in error. Grunwald is charged with 14 crimes including six first-degree felonies: one count of aggravated murder, two counts of felony discharge of a firearm, two counts of attempted aggravated murder and one count of aggravated robbery. Grunwald is also charged with several other felonies including obstruction of justice, discharging a firearm, failing to stop at the command of police and possession of a controlled substance.

Jail records indicated Grunwald is being held on $1 million cash-only bail but that could change on Monday when Grunwald will appear in court for her first felony appearance.

• The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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