Drunk Driver From Utah Leads Police on Highway Chase

A man from Utah was arrested late Thursday night after leading Danvers police and state troopers on a brief chase down Route 114 onto Route 1 in Peabody.

Adam Meinhardt, 31, of American Fork, Utah, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol (first offense), failure to stop for police, leaving the scene of an accident with property damage, negligent operation of a vehicle, speeding, a marked lanes violation and improper turning.

Danvers Police spokesman Sgt. Robert Bettencourt said officers were conducting routine traffic enforcement just after 11 p.m. near Bay State Animal Clinic on Route 114 when a car buzzed by at a high rate of speed.

Bettencourt said the vehicle did not stop for the officers and led them on a brief chase, which was called off when the car entered Peabody. At one point, the vehicle's speed was estimated at more than 80 mph.

State troopers eventually caught up with the car near 84 Newbury St. in Peabody after Meinhardt spun out of control while trying to get onto I-95 North.

Bettencourt said the car was leaking fluid and was heavily damaged from where it struck a traffic sign. Meinhardt was taken into custody and brought to the Danvers Police Station for booking on the aforementioned charges.

He was then taken to Beverly Hospital after complaining of pain in his hand and returned to the station later that night.