UTAH COUNTY — A man who crashed his car while fleeing from police was rescued from a frigid river Friday evening, officials said.
The Utah County Sheriff's Office said the man, a 43-year-old from Salem whose name was not released, illegally passed a deputy in Hobble Creek Canyon (located east of Springville).
The deputy then attempted to pull the driver over, but the suspect was reportedly going at speeds of over 70 miles per hour on a road with a speed limit of 35. The deputy stopped the chase out of safety concerns.
The deputy and others with the UCSO searched for the car, eventually finding it crashed about nine miles up the Left Fork section of the canyon.
With the help of a police K-9 and resources from other agencies, the deputies tracked the man for nearly four miles in two-and-a-half feet of snow, the sheriff's office said.
After two hours of searching, they finally found the man in a river with no clothes on. He was suffering from severe hypothermia, lost consciousness, and had "significant abrasions."
The man was carried to a side-by-side ATV, then taken to a LifeFlight helicopter and flown to Utah Valley Hospital. He was in serious condition but is expected to survive.
The sheriff's office said the man was in these sub-freezing conditions for more than three hours.
"Without the efforts of these five Deputies, this man would not have survived," a Facebook post by UCSO said.
It was not stated what charges he may face or whether impaired driving is suspected.
