MERIDIAN - A dramatic police pursuit shut down a section of Interstate 84 during rush hour Wednesday.
The chase unfolded in the eastbound lanes near Ten Mile Road at about 5 p.m.
Idaho State Police say they received a report of a reckless driver near milepost 22 in Canyon County at 4:44 p.m. The caller told dispatch the driver - later identified as 23-year-old Jonathan Edward Popelar of LAvepark, Illinois - made an illegal U-turn through the median, narrowly missing several cars. Popelar also used the right shoulder to pass multiple vehicles, police say.
A trooper tried to pull the driver's white Ford Ranger over near milepost 33, but Popelar did not stop.
Video from an Idaho Transportation Department camera shows an Idaho State Police trooper throw out spike strips near just east of the Linder Road overpass. Popelar's pickup truck drives around the strips with three police cruisers in pursuit. Moments later, one of the patrol cars initiates a PIT maneuver, spinning out the pickup and bringing the chase to halt.
ISP took Popelar into custody. The eastbound lanes of I-84 were reopened a short time later.
Popelar was booked into to the Ada County Jail on misdemeanor charges of eluding a peace officer, driving under the influence, and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
