Driver arrested after traveling wrong way on freeway

SCIPIO, Millard County — A man accused of carjacking a vehicle and driving on the wrong side of I-15 in an attempt to escape from police was arrested in Millard County.

Joshua Julius Doan, 27, was booked into the Millard County Jail and formally charged on Wednesday in 4th District Court with 13 crimes that included aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony; receiving a stolen vehicle, a second-degree felony; aggravated assault and failing to stop at the command of police, a third-degree felony; assault on a police officer and reckless endangerment, both class A misdemeanors.

On Tuesday, just after 9 a.m, Doan was at a Texaco Gas Station in Scipio when he “forced his way” into a woman’s Ford Edge and drove off, according to a police affidavit. Doan drove south on I-15 where a trooper spotted him and began a pursuit north of Fillmore.

“During the pursuit, the vehicle passed multiple cars on the right shoulder and the speeds reached up to 122 mph,” the affidavit states.

After the trooper stopped chasing the fleeing vehicle for safety concerns, Doan crossed the median and continued driving south in the northbound lanes of I-15, according to the affidavit. Near Meadow, Doan went through a fence off I-15, drove through a field, and then drove through another fence on the other side, ending up on Hot Springs Road, according to the affidavit.

“While traveling on Hot Springs Road, the Ford struck another vehicle that was traveling in the area but failed to remain at that location,” the affidavit states.

Doan eventually got out of the stolen vehicle on a county road and ran. Multiple Millard County sheriff’s deputies and Utah Highway Patrol troopers ran after him.

“As a trooper and a deputy caught up to the subject, he stopped and turned around, at which point, he postured back towards the officer as if he were going to fight. A Millard County deputy then deployed a Taser after which another deputy and a trooper were able to take the subject into custody,” according to the affidavit.

Officers did a background check on Doan and learned he was scheduled to be in court in Wyoming on Tuesday to face several felony charges, the affidavit states. He is also being investigated in connection with two other cases of cars being stolen and leading police on chases in Morgan County and Syracuse, according to the affidavit.