Rexburg Police stop wrong-way drunk teen driver

REXBURG– A drunken juvenile has been charged after Rexburg Police stopped them after a report came in of a vehicle driving the wrong way on U.S. Highway 20 on Sunday morning.

Rexburg Police Chief Joshua Rhodes said a call out of Fremont County notified them of a vehicle heading the wrong way on the highway.

Rhodes said it took around four minutes for them to be notified, dispatch officers and stop the vehicle.

“The vehicle did stop on its own. … It does create an extreme danger to all traveling public, but also to the officers to attempt to stop a vehicle traveling the wrong direction,” Rhodes said.

According to the department’s Facebook post, the vehicle was stolen, and the juvenile was intoxicated.

Rhodes said there were two individuals, but neither had permission to take the vehicle.

The Facebook post states the results of a breath test done on the intoxicated juvenile indicated a blood alcohol content over the legal limit — even for an adult.

“They were taken into custody and charged,” Rhodes said.

Rhodes wants to thank residents who reached out about the wrong-way driver and to remain involved if they see something wrong.

He pointed to three recent incidents of wrong-way drivers in the area, and one resulted in a crash, causing injuries. He said all of them were alcohol-related.

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“The quicker we get that information, the quicker officers can respond to the area and stop that vehicle and hopefully prevent another wrong-way crash. They are extremely dangerous just because of the speeds and complete opposite directions of impact,” Rhodes said.