The Tooele man who evaded police in a high-speed chase earlier this month was arrested more than a week ago and charged with additional drug charges during an appearance in Third District Court Monday.
Camron Romero, 24, has been charged with third-degree felony aggravated assault and two counts of third-degree felony failure to stop or respond at the command of police, as well as misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment, use or possession of drug paraphernalia, reckless driving, accident involving property damage and an infraction for speeding, for the March 8 chase by police.
In a separate court case, Romero also faces two counts of second-degree felony possession with intent to distribute a class C substance and a misdemeanor count of failure to stop at the command of law enforcement for the incident surrounding his arrest.
On March 19, around 4 p.m., a Tooele City police officer was on patrol when he saw a white car heading westbound on Utah Avenue, about to make a right turn onto Coleman Street. The man in the front passenger seat, later identified as Romero, attempted to turn in the seat to prevent the officer from seeing his face, according to a probable cause statement.
The officer turned around to follow the car and run its license plate when he observed what appeared to be a coin purse was tossed from the vehicle, the statement said. The white car turned from Coleman onto Havasu Street and the officer lost track of the vehicle at that point.
While searching for the white car containing Romero, the officer turned onto Salton Street and saw Romero exit the passenger side of the car toward a residence on the street. The officer activated his top lights and got out of his patrol car, on the grounds of investigating the littering and suspicious behavior, the probable cause statement said.
When the officer asked Romero to come speak with him, Romero headed toward the officer before turning and running east down Salton Street. After a short pursuit, the officer apprehended Romero and he admitted to having an arrest warrant, according to Tooele City police.
Another officer who responded to assist located a paper with people’s names and phone numbers in the object that was thrown from the car Romero was in. On Champlain Street, a black key box was also found, which a witness claimed was tossed from the vehicle as well, which contained a “large amount” of a black tar-like substance, a white crystalline substance and multiple pills, according to the probable causes statement.
Police had been searching for Romero since he evaded Tooele County Sheriff’s deputies and Grantsville City police officers on March 8.
On that day, a deputy was assisting with residential lockout in a trailer park off of West Clark Street when they first observed Romero. After the license plate on Romero’s white Camaro were run, the deputy learned there was a warrant out for Romero’s arrest for trespassing.
After Romero gave the deputy his license, he was told he would be brought in on the warrant and fled the scene in his car around 9:40 a.m., according to the Tooele County Sheriff’s Office. Romero nearly hit a second deputy who had followed him in his patrol car onto West Clark Street.
The chase continued through the Old Lincoln Highway and Clark Street intersection, where Romero accelerated up to speeds exceeding 90 mph while traveling eastbound on the residential street, the sheriff’s office said. The deputy terminated the chase due to the potential risk to residents.
A Grantsville City police officer picked up the pursuit of Romero after he turned onto Main Street from Bowery Street. Romero continued down the permissive turn lane through town heading eastbound, past the Maverick convenience store, according to Grantsville City police.
Once he reached the 60 mph zone outside of town, Romero reached speeds of over 100 mph, prompting the Grantsville police officer to terminate the chase near the intersection of Erda Way and Sheep Lane.
Around 9:55 a.m., dispatch received reports of a single vehicle accident on Bates Canyon Road near August Street in Erda. Officers found Romero’s Camaro, facing westbound and crashed against a barbed wire fence on the north side of the road.
After law enforcement established containment in the area, they began to conduct a search for Romero with officers and a K-9 unit. At about 11:30 a.m., a witness contacted police, saying they had given Romero a ride to Tooele following the accident, according to the Tooele County Sheriff’s office.
Police responded to the address where Romero was dropped off but were unable to locate him at that time.
Romero is being held in the Tooele County Detention Center on $25,000 bail. A motion to reduce bail was denied by Judge Robert Adkins at his initial appearance Monday morning.
Romero is expected back in Third District Court for a roll call hearing on April 12 at 9 a.m.