Pursuit ends near Elk Mountain

ELK MOUNTAIN, Wyo. (KIFI) - Two New Mexico residents are in custody following a pursuit on Tuesday.

The pursuit started shortly after 1:15 p.m. after Wyoming Highway Patrol (WHP) troopers attempted to stop a 2005 Chrysler 300 for speeding on Interstate 80 west of Elk Mountain. The suspect vehicle entered a construction zone as the trooper caught up with the suspect vehicle to conduct a traffic stop. The driver of the Chrysler started driving in the closed lane to evade law enforcement.      

The driver of the Chrysler fled from the trooper and exited into the Elk Mountain area. As troopers began to respond, the suspect vehicle's driver began to travel on dirt roads towards Medicine Bow Forest and elude the pursuing law enforcement. 

The Wyoming Highway Patrol, Carbon County Sheriff's Deputies, and Bureau of Land Management Rangers began to search for the vehicle. An off-duty WHP trooper was contacted by local ranchers about the incident and responded to the area. He located the car at a nearby ranch and relayed the location to the responding law enforcement. The pursuing law enforcement found the vehicle, and a brief pursuit was initiated. The car became disabled due to the driver's actions a short time later, and two adult occupants and one juvenile occupant in the vehicle were taken into custody without further incident. 

The occupants have been identified as 36-year-old Michael P. Romero, 36-year-old Diana B. Ray, and a 16-year-old juvenile, all from New Mexico. Romero and Ray were booked into the Carbon County Detention Center for felony possession of methamphetamine and fentanyl and misdemeanor possession of psilocybin mushrooms and marijuana. Romero also had an active warrant out of New Mexico for failure to comply and received charges for eluding.