Patrol led on 100-mph interstate chase

By Paul Shockley
Thursday, May 24, 2012

An alleged drunk driver was arrested at gunpoint Wednesday after a pursuit led by the Colorado State Patrol topped 100 mph on Interstate 70.

Michelle Phegley, 49, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, eluding, driving with a revoked license and weaving, State Trooper Nate Reid said.

It started just before 3 p.m. when Phegley failed to yield when a trooper tried to pull her vehicle over eastbound on U.S. Highway 6&50, near 22 Road, according to Reid.

A trooper had observed the vehicle weaving on the road.

Phegley’s vehicle sped east to the 24 Road interchange, where it turned back and headed west on I-70, Reid said.

The trooper who engaged the pursuit was heard over radio traffic telling dispatchers speeds hit 105 mph.

Reid said Phegley pulled her 1992 Oldsmobile Cutlass to the shoulder of the right lane and stopped at mile marker 19, where an eyewitness said he watched police with guns drawn arrest someone.

Delta resident Stephen Whitehill was driving home eastbound on I-70 when he said he saw a police officer lay a spike strip across westbound traffic lanes — a tool used by law enforcement designed to puncture tires of vehicles — before he said he drove another mile and happened upon the arrest.

Three to four law enforcement vehicles were pursuing the fleeing vehicle, he said.

“I didn’t know if it was a carjacking or what,” Whitehill said.