By Travis Uresk
6/13/23
Vernal, Ut.- On 5/26/23, Sgt. Hill was traveling South on US-40 when UHP Trooper Sgt. Carson radioed dispatch, informing Officers that he had just caught two sports cars traveling at speeds of 90 to 100 plus mph headed into Vernal.
Sgt. Hill was stopped at the traffic light at 1500 South US-40 when he noticed two black sports cars approaching him at a high rate of speed. He activated his emergency lights as the cars approached him and passed him. One car noticed and began to slow down, and the other car maintained a high rate of speed.
Sgt. Hill turned around to follow the cars and watched them speed toward Jimmy Johns. The cars changed lanes, passed a vehicle, then moved back over to the outside lane, and passed several vehicles on the shoulder of the road, making a lot of dust.
One of the sports cars slowed down and stopped for law enforcement. Sgt Hill radioed in the fleeing vehicle description and direction of travel to the other Officers. The two cars were marked with rally stickers and an orange and blue sticker on the hoods.
While Hill was dealing with his traffic stop, Deputy Russell located the other car and made a traffic stop on it after he had followed it with lights and a siren.
The driver that ran from the police and was stopped by Deputy Russell was identified as 31-year-old Kristopher Alexis Hernandez. Sgt. Hill asked him what happened after he passed the Sgt. And Kristopher wouldn't tell him.
Hill asked Hernandez if he passed vehicles on the right side of the road, and again he wouldn't answer much and then stated that they get a lot of road ragers after them, so he might have passed on the right.
Sgt. Hill then asked him why he didn’t slow down like the other car he was with when he activated his emergency lights in front of him. Hernandez claimed he didn’t see the lights, and his passenger claimed to have been asleep during the incident and didn’t know anything.
Based on the Sgt. Hill's observations and the video captured on his dash camera, both cars were able to see his emergency lights and that Kristopher continued to pass the Sgt. Using evasive and life-threatening actions to elude the Officers.
Kristopher Hernandez was arrested and booked into the Uintah County Jail.
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