Officials: Man arrested after eluding troopers, driving behind rest stop

Utah Highway Patrol troopers, along with Perry Police Department officers, responded to the I-15 northbound rest area at Perry about 10:10 p.m. Friday to investigate a call of possible drug use, UHP officials said on the agency's website.

Troopers found the pair sitting in a blue 2016 Hyundai with Idaho license plates.

One trooper pulled up behind the car in the parking lot, and troopers started to interview the man, but he was elusive and gave false identifying information several times, officials said.

The woman asked to go to the restroom, and a female Perry police officer escorted her there.

A trooper identified the man as William Davis, 28, and believed there were active warrants out for his arrest. He asked Davis to get out of the vehicle, but the man rolled up the windows, locked the doors and started driving, officials said.

Davis drove over the curb and onto the grass area behind the rest area building, officials said. One trooper followed in his patrol car and pushed the Hyundai up against a fence when Davis tried to turn, UHP officials said.

Davis then got out of the car and jumped over a barbed-wire fence, according to UHP. Several UHP troopers followed him and took him into custody at gunpoint, officials said.

The woman, later identified as 29-year-old Valena Nelson, was taken into custody for security purposes while police investigated the confrontation.

Both Davis and Nelson showed signs of impairment, according to UHP.

Davis had a cut to his hand from the fence and was examined by medical personnel. The trooper's patrol car had minor damage to the bumper.

Willard Police Department was investigating the damage caused by the pursuit, officials said.