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Carjacking on I-17 backs up traffic for hours, News

Carjacking on I-17 backs up traffic for hours

An SUV that DPS says was carjacked sits alongside I-17 Sunday after being involved in a head-on crash with a semi.

An armed carjacking and subsequent crash stopped traffic for eleven hours in the southbound lanes of Interstate seventeen south of Munds Park on Sunday.

When it was over, the suspect was in serious condition from injuries suffered in the crash while drivers caught in the backup on Highway 89A through Sedona were frustrated.

Erikee Lynn said she sat in a line of traffic at Oak Creek Canyon for an hour and a half. Another driver said she waited until 7:30 p.m. to leave Flagstaff for Phoenix but still hadn’t reached the top of the switchbacks by 9:30 p.m.

Flagstaff resident Diane Sulzer was fortunate enough to be heading in the opposite direction from Jerome.

“The line of cars coming down from Flag was backed up from inwards Sedona City thresholds to around Slide Rock, mostly stopped, or in catches sight of just inching along,” she said.

According to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the suspect was seen driving recklessly southbound along I-17 north of Camp Verde in a crimson Mustang at 9:51 a.m.

The report said the Mustang collided with a vehicle, after which the suspect went to the northbound section of the interstate on foot and used a rifle to carjack a white GMC SUV.

Highway patrol troopers were reportedly shot at by the suspect but no officers were injured.

The pursue ended when the suspect crossed the median into the southbound lane and drove head-on into a commercial semi-truck fifteen miles south of Munds Park.

The suspect then confronted a Yavapai Deputy Sheriff assisting in the pursuit, who reportedly discharged his weapon at the suspect. However the report makes no mention of the suspect sustaining any injuries from the discharged weapon.

The driver of the semi-truck was reported to have minor injuries and was transported to a hospital via ambulance.

The suspect was evacuated via medical helicopter and is presently at Flagstaff Medical Center with serious life-threatening injuries.

In all, I-17 was closed from Ten:20 a.m. to 8:58 p.m.

According to DPS, the long traffic delays were largely determined by the fact that the crash required a high amount of medical attention such as a helicopter evacuation for the suspect and the numerous crime scenes because of the armed carjacking and live rounds fired by the suspect.

“You truly have three separate crimes scenes here that involve a pursuit, shots fired and a collision,” DPS Public Information Officer Quentin Mehr said. “No one likes being backed up in traffic for ten hours but these investigations take time so we can bring the decent charges when the time comes.”

ADOT officials got out the word as soon as possible.

“We put out information through news releases and social media to advise travelers of the closure,” ADOT Public Information Officer Ryan Harding said. “We also activated overhead message boards along Interstate forty in both directions and on I-17 southbound advising of the closure.”

ADOT advised southbound drivers to take Interstate forty west to Highway eighty nine at Ash Fork or east on I-40 to State Route eighty seven in Winslow.

But many drivers attempted to descend 89A through the switchbacks to Sedona, causing at least a 6-mile backup, according to ADOT.

With more than Two,000 people on the slopes at Arizona Snowbowl and due to head south, employees rushed to get information out to visiting skiers and snowboarders.

Snowbowl General Manager J.R. Murray said that when he received the news his staff quickly got information out all over the mountain.

“We did alert as many guests as we could in the lodges and when guests left the ski area,” Murray said. “We also alerted anyone who returned ski equipment, but it is difficult to reach everyone as guests spend most of their time on the mountain and then head directly to their cars.”

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