By Jimmy Orr, Cowboy State Daily
If there were a criminal’s handbook, you would think there would be a chapter on the importance of tires.
Unfortunately for Denver, Colorado, resident Willie F. Zanders, neither the chapter nor the handbook exists.
Tires are considered an important accessory for vehicles.
That’s not to say a vehicle can’t drive without tires, but the experience is improved with them. Especially when driving in excess of 100 mph.
Zanders discovered that when he decided to drive through Wyoming with a felony amount of cocaine, a suspended license and a firearm — even though as a person convicted of a felony, he should not have had one.
It’s reasonable to think that when driving under those circumstances, adhering to the speed limit would be a preferred strategy.
Zanders opted for another strategy, however. A strategy of going 84 mph in a 70 mph zone.
Going 14 mph over the speed limit will usually get you pulled over unless you are driving to Denver where the speed limit is somewhere between Daytona 500 and the speed of sound. (Unless you are in the far left lane where someone with their turn signal on is going 45.)
Regardless, when the Wyoming Highway Patrol requested Zanders pull over for the speeding infraction, Zanders declined.
Zanders, again, pursued a different strategy. He floored it.
As he was driving north on U.S. Highway 85 near Hawk Springs, he didn’t really have a lot of options.
Torrington was ahead — which was his only option.
The Wyoming Highway Patrol alerted the Torrington Police Department of the speeding truck and the Torrington PD set up spike strips — which Zanders blew through at more than 100 mph.
This is where Zanders got a crash course in the importance of tires.
His vehicle riding now on rims, Zanders kept the gas pedal floored and was doing great until an Arby’s sign in Torrington jumped out in front of him, stopping Zanders and his truck immediately.
At that point, unlike countless other criminals featured in our Criminal’s Handbook series, Zanders surpassingly did not take off running.
By not continuing to elude law enforcement, Zanders limited the charges against him to fleeing to elude, felony possession of a controlled substance (cocaine), driving on a suspended license, speeding, and possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a felony.
Of course, Zanders is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
