Friday May 8 at 8:45 p.m., a Pinal County Sheriff’s Deputy (K9 Unit) attempted to stop a 2002 Ford Pickup westbound on I-10 near Casa Grande. The truck fled at speeds estimated to be 95 mph before it exited the freeway and crashed in the desert. The driver fled into the desert, successfully eluding capture. The truck was found to have approximately 430 pounds of marijuana in the bed, which was seized for destruction.
A Pinal County Sheriff’s Deputy was travelling west on I-10 near mile marker 196, when he noticed a Ford pickup truck approaching from his rear at a high rate of speed. The truck abruptly slowed when it was close to the deputy’s marked vehicle, and then slowly passed the deputy. The deputy initiated a traffic stop and the driver pulled the truck to the right, stopping on the side of the freeway. The deputy approached the car and noted a strong odor of raw marijuana emanating from the vehicle.
Before he could make contact with the driver, the truck accelerated back onto the freeway westbound and the deputy gave chase. The deputy caught the truck near the McCartney Road. The truck exited the freeway at McCartney Rd. and drove into the desert, where it crashed into a wash.
The truck being wrecked and immobilized, the driver exited the vehicle and ran into the desert. After a short delay in getting to the crashed truck, the deputy deployed his K9 to search for the suspect. After a brief search, the deputy-K9 team was not able to locate the suspect-driver.
The deputy returned to the truck and found nine brickshaped packages wrapped in camouflage material, of what appeared to marijuana. It was later confirmed to be approximately 430 pounds of marijuana, with astreet value worth over $300,000. The deputy also located a handgun dropped near the cab of the truck.
The suspect was never located. The truck, marijuana and handgun were impounded by the deputy.
Sheriff Paul Babeu said, “This pursuit and collision is another example of how our deputies and the public are being placed at risk by the dangerous behavior of smugglers, who will go to great lengths to get their drugs into the United States through our unsecured
southern border.”