Four critically injured in fatal crashes

Friday, May 26, 2000 | 11:05 a.m.

Four people were in critical condition this morning from two accidents caused by a man fleeing from police on Interstate 15 in a truck Thursday.

The fleeing driver and another man were killed in the crashes in Arizona north of Mesquite. The driver of the truck has been identified as Clark Rocker Ford, 28, of Utah, whose driver's license had been suspended because of an alcohol-related offense, police said.

A 23-year-old Colorado man, in one of the cars Ford hit, also died, police said.

A 60-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man were in University Medical Center this morning in critical condition. A 24-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman from Colorado were in a Utah hospital, said Trooper Alan Davidson, a spokesman for the Nevada Highway Patrol.

The chase started near Mesquite and ended on Interstate 15 in Mohave County, Ariz., about 6:35 a.m. Thursday. Troopers started the chase on I-15 after Ford sped away during a traffic stop after he was accused by Mesquite Police of driving his truck on a golf course. As Ford reached speeds of more than 100 mph, Mohave County sheriff's deputies put down road spikes to stop him, police said.

But Ford avoided the spikes by crossing over into the southbound lanes and continued driving the wrong way until he first crashed into the 60-year-old woman's car and then into the car with the other people, police said.

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