A Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office deputy was heading to the Village of Oak Creek area on State Route 179 about two miles from Interstate 17 on Oct. 23, around 8 a.m. when a white Range Rover drove in the lane occupied by the deputy’s marked unit and two other cars.
The Range Rover nearly caused a head-on collision with the oncoming vehicles. It appeared to the deputy the driver was trying to pass and this action caused the drivers of all three vehicles to slam on their brakes to avoid striking the wrong-way driver.
The deputy turned around, activated his emergency lights and siren, and attempted to stop the vehicle.
Instead of stopping, the driver of the Range Rover accelerated and began again passing several cars on the crest of a hill. The deputy estimated a vehicle speed of nearly 100 mph as the driver continued to pull away while running cars off the road.
Approaching I-17, the vehicle continued under the overpass, onto Forest Road 618, and out of sight. The deputy continued along Forest Road 618 and eventually spotted the vehicle via the dust cloud created by the speed. When the dust cloud dissipated, assisting deputies gathered and began a search.
About an hour later, deputies found the vehicle hidden amongst trees adjacent to the road with 26-year-old Andrew Mitchell Nelson, of the Village of Oak Creek, sitting in the driver’s seat. Two passengers in the vehicle had disappeared and could not be located.
Deputies reportedly found open containers of alcohol in the vehicle and Nelson admitted using Xanax and Oxycodone while drinking large amounts of alcohol. Nelson reportedly resisted deputies as they placed him in the back seat of a patrol vehicle and remained uncooperative throughout the contact. He claimed the true driver fled the scene.
The initial urine sample results showed positive for various drugs including amphetamines, oxycodone, THC and cocaine. Nelson was booked into the Yavapai County Detention Center in Camp Verde on charges including fleeing a law enforcement vehicle and DUI.
The identity of the two other occupants was discovered shortly after Nelson was booked and included 28-year-old Brett Douglas Lahr, also of the Village of Oak Creek.
YCSO deputies contacted him on the evening of Oct. 23 at his home where he admitted driving the Range Rover and claimed he did not know deputies were following. Lahr described the clothing he was wearing at the time which matched deputies’ descriptions.
Lahr is an unlicensed driver. Lahr reportedly stated that both he and Nelson had been driving the Range Rover with his girlfriend as a passenger, and again admitted he was the driver when traveling along State Route 179 towards I-17.
Lahr was arrested and booked into the Yavapai County Detention Center in Camp Verde on charges including endangerment, fleeing law enforcement vehicle and driving without a license.
Both suspects have been released pending court action.
