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Wrong-way driver arrested, hit DPS trooper's vehicle in East Valley

Just before 5 a.m. Wednesday, Arizona Department of Public Safety got a call about a driver going south in the northbound lanes of Loop 101 near Thomas Road.

A wrong-way driver led police on a chase across the East Valley Wednesday morning.

Just before 5 a.m., DPS got a call about a driver going south in the northbound lanes of Loop 101 near Thomas Road.

A Chandler police officer spotted the car and pulled it over. The driver, identified as Nelson Sapata, got out with his hands up but then jumped back in the car. Police followed the driver as he went on and off the freeway and drove on city streets, officials say.

Sapata clipped a DPS trooper on Kyrene Road near the freeway, according to police. A trooper used his car to hit the fleeing car, spinning it to a stop, officials say. This is called a pit maneuver.

Police then took Sapata, a 21-year-old man from Glendale, into custody near the US-60 and Mill Avenue.

No one was injured in the chase.

Sapata is facing two charges of aggravated DUI, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, unlawful flight and three counts of endangerment.

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