2 West Valley men arrested in burglary, car chase

TOOELE — Police say two men attempted to rob a Wendover casino hotel room, assaulted a woman, stole a vehicle and led various law enforcement agencies on a high-speed chase and manhunt Friday.

The two men first hit police radar around 3 a.m., when a domestic-violence call led police to the Montego Bay Resort and Casino in West Wendover, Nev., West Wendover Police Chief Ron Supp said. When police arrived at the resort, they learned that it was actually an assault and robbery.

A 21-year-old woman told police that she woke up and found two men in their hotel room at the resort. The woman told police the men were going through her belongings, and when she confronted them, she was hit several times. The woman said the men then fled the room, police said.

At that point, police believe the two men stole a white Chevrolet from the casino parking lot and attempted to escape in it, Supp said. The men were traveling on I-80 toward Tooele when they were spotted by officers from the Tooele County Sheriff's Office.

"As soon as we reported the car was stolen, Tooele was there … and saw the vehicle, and that's how the pursuit started," Supp said. "We were lucky that way."

Tooele County Sheriff's Sgt. Ron Johnson said he and another deputy noticed a slow-moving car on I-80. A registration check on the vehicle showed that the registration had been suspended.

When the officers attempted to pull the vehicle over, the car sped up and led the officers on a high-speed chase. Johnson said the men hit the interstate sign at Exit 49 going about 90 mph. They then left the vehicle and ran southeast into the desert.

"At that point, we called a state SWAT team, a state helicopter and our SWAT team out," Johnson said.

Tooele County Sheriff's Lt. Travis Scharmann said 30 to 40 people joined in the manhunt. A Utah Highway Patrol helicopter located the men, who were apprehended about 9 a.m. by 13 officers.

Supp said he was "unaware of any weapons involved," but police are still trying to piece together what happened. West Wendover police also are looking at the men as burglary suspects.

"It all happened in the same time frame," Supp said. "We're trying to be careful … but we're knee deep in it ourselves."

Utah law officials are investigating Chase Barron, 19, and Wesly Berry, 19, both of West Valley City, for evading police and possession of a stolen vehicle.

e-mail: emorgan@desnews.com