A Utah man who led police on a chase on snow covered roads that reached speeds of 130 mph told authorities he was on the way to Missouri to kill former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, investigators said.
Utah Highway Patrol saw George William Stahl, 36, early Wednesday morning driving 115 mph on I-80 as a light snow blanketed the roadway, the Deseret News reported.
“I activated my emergency lights immediately and the vehicle appeared to accelerate faster and pull away from me,” an investigator said. “I caught up to the vehicle who was still traveling over 100 mph and the vehicle accelerated again and pulled away.”
Stahl reached speeds of 130 mph during the pursuit, authorities said. Police used spike strips to finally stop Stahl.
Investigators said Stahl “was belligerent and appeared heavily intoxicated. He smelled of an alcoholic beverage and his eyes were glassy and bloodshot.”
An empty 12-pack of Budweiser was found in the vehicle as well as another partially consumed 12-pack. Investigators said Stahl told them he drank beer and took Adderall and LSD.
“He stated that he was on his way to Missouri to kill (McCaskill) if she wasn’t dead already,” officials said.
Stahl was arrested and charged with making terroristic threats, failure to stop, reckless driving, speeding, DUI and drug possession, investigators said.
McCaskill is a Democrat who held office from 2006 to 2019 and currently is a contributor to MSNBC. She lost her reelection to current Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican.
“Obviously, this is not the first time there have been threats, and that is never good. But the political temperature is very high right now, which makes it concerning,” McCaskill told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Cox Media Group
