Woman calls AAA in standoff after Utah Highway Patrol spikes tires, police say

EMERY COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — A woman was convinced to end a standoff with Utah Highway Patrol after she called her auto insurance company for roadside assistance to fix a tire that was spiked in a high-speed pursuit on Wednesday, according to court documents.

Annamae Cabalsa Martinez, 45, was taken into custody and faces charges of felony failure to respond to an officer’s signal to stop and misdemeanor reckless driving.

The incident started just before 5:30 p.m. on April 9 when a Utah Highway Patrol trooper spotted a car, allegedly driven by Martinez, speeding at 120 miles per hour on I-70. The trooper reported attempting to pull the car over, reaching speeds of 130 miles per hour to catch up.

When the trooper did catch up, Martinez allegedly accelerated and continued at speeds between 120 and 130 miles per hour. The first attempt to spike her tires was reportedly unsuccessful but the second attempt brought her car to a stop.

“Traffic was shut down and a high-risk stop was performed with multiple troopers. The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle failed to obey any commands to exit the vehicle or roll down the window,” the arresting trooper wrote in his probable cause statement. “I tried multiple times to get Martinez to roll down a window or exit the vehicle while yelling as loud as I could. A PA speaker was also used to try and get Martinez to obey our commands, which she refused.”

Utah Highway Patrol said this went on for 40 minutes, during which time Martinez allegedly called AAA to get her tire fixed. The AAA representative reportedly connected Martinez to dispatch, who in turn connected her to the trooper’s phone.

The Highway Patrol trooper was able to convince Martinez to exit the car and she was then safely taken into custody and booked into Emery County Jail on the aforementioned charges.

Court records show she has been ordered to be held without bail, pending a pretrial hearing.