When it comes to high-profile, low-speed police chases, O.J. Simpson’s 1994 spectacle in southern California is hard to beat.
It’s doubtful Rawlins resident Matthew Farrington was trying to outdo Mr. Simpson but his low-speed chase had an element that Simpson’s did not — a tractor.
According to our friends at Saratoga’s Bigfoot 99, Farrington was driving his orange tractor down a city street in Rawlins earlier this month but unfortunately couldn’t keep it in one lane.
The weaving caught the eye of a Rawlins police officer who attempted to pull Farrington and his tractor over.
Police Sgt. Joel Robertson turned on his police lights and later the siren but Farrington ignored the direction to stop.
The radio station reported that Farrington did, however, “turn in his seat to look at Sgt. Robertson several times but continued driving.”
Eventually the chase ended when Farrington — while driving on the wrong side of the road — stopped at his house and attempted to go inside.
It was at that point that the officer stopped the driver and attempted to administer a field sobriety test, which the driver refused.
Farrington’s mother, however, was at the scene and told officers her son had been drinking.
Bigfoot 99 reported that police documents said Farrington smelled “very strongly of alcohol and could hardly hold himself up. He was slurring his words, was combative and argumentative.”
If convicted of Driving Under the Influence, it will be Farrington’s fourth such conviction in 10 years, which is considered a felony in Wyoming.
