Two teens accused of transporting migrants were arrested after a high-speed chase through Cochise County Monday.
According to Cochise County Sheriff’s Office, failure to yield instances within the area have risen sharply due to drivers from outside the county driving down to pick up migrants before fleeing with intent to transport them to Phoenix or Tucson.
To combat this rise, the county sheriff’s office, along with Arizona Department of Public Safety, Border Patrol and the Sierra Vista Police Department planned to increase patrol near Sierra Vista and around Cochise County.
According to a press release, units posted in the area saw two teens from the United States breaking the speed limit and made a traffic stop. The two teens drove off on Highway 92 at Montezuma Canyon at around 7:54 p.m. without their headlights while exceeding speeds of 100 mph.
Officers pursued the teens, with the help of a Border Patrol helicopter, in a high-speed chase to southbound Interstate 10 near Benson. During the chase, the teens' vehicle crossed into the wrong lane of traffic at a high rate of speed.
Police used tire strips to slow or disable the vehicle multiple times, to no avail. Finally, Benson police eventually stopped the teens’ vehicle by performing a maneuver using a patrol car to strike the suspect's vehicle, forcing it to spin it out of control at an I-10 on-ramp, sending the vehicle into a nearby ditch.
Police noted that both the 17-year-old driver of the vehicle and his 16-year-old passenger were arrested. Additionally, four migrants were also apprehended. According to police, no injuries were reported in connection to the incident.
