Alleged pot haulers carjacked, call cops

DENVER, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- A man and woman allegedly hauling marijuana from Utah to North Carolina called police after being carjacked, a highway patrol spokesman said.

Sgt. Stephen Townsend of the Wyoming Highway Patrol said about 9 p.m. Friday two people allegedly transporting the high-grade contraband were carjacked by two men in a red sport utility vehicle who took the victims' car and sped off, leaving the victims by the side of Interstate 80, The Denver Post reported Wednesday.

The victims called authorities, and state troopers later discovered two men allegedly transferring the bundles of marijuana from the stolen car into the SUV. The men fled in the SUV and at one point one of the men jumped out and got away, the Post said. The driver, tossing packages of high-grade marijuana out the window, kept driving until he slammed into a snow bank. The driver then ran away but was apprehended.

Authorities confiscated the marijuana, which has a street value of about $425,000.

Three people were in custody -- the man and woman who allegedly were transporting the marijuana and one of the alleged carjackers.