Photo courtesy of the Emery County Sheriff’s Office
Emery County local Dennis Butler made a decision to celebrate his 66th birthday in a very unique way: by engaging in a police chase, complete with obscene hand gestures.
According to a probable cause statement, Butler was driving a silver vehicle near Moore, Utah and nearly collided with three separate vehicles on said road. Witness statements allege that Butler attempted to run vehicles off of the road and stole a Castle Valley Outdoors sign. It was also stated that Butler “mooned” those in the area.
An Emery County Sheriff’s deputy responded to the scene and began interviewing witnesses. However, this was interrupted by Butler, who was stated to have sped toward the officer’s vehicle at speeds around 58 miles per hour. The deputy was forced to move his cruiser from the road to avoid collision.
It was then that Butler “flipped off” the deputy while speeding by. From there, the chase began. Racing toward Moore, it is estimated that Butler reached speeds of approximately 100 miles per hour. The chase ended peacefully as Butler parked his vehicle and entered a shed.
Once the deputy spoke with Butler, who was the sole occupant of the vehicle, he was arrested. Butler now faces three counts of aggravated assault, lewdness, theft, failure to stop or respond at the command of an officer and assault against a peace officer.