Scottsdale Officer's quick actions stop wrong-way driver

Quick police action stopped a wrong-way driver on the Loop 101 in Scottsdale early Saturday morning.

The first 9-1-1 calls came from the Loop 101 and Shea, a man was reportedly driving north in the southbound lanes.

Scottsdale Police used stop sticks to stop the driver, 37-year-old Venkata Nukala at the Loop 101 and Pima.

Officers will say it's a dangerous and potentially deadly situation and hard for officers to be able to do anything.

The wrong-way drivers journey came to an end when his tires were flattened by the officer using stop sticks.

"So from my position literally seconds to get them of my vehicle before the suspect vehicle drove in my direction," said Officer Dustin Friesth.

The officer stopped his patrol car at the 101 and Pima-Princess exit when he saw the headlights coming at him.

"Activated my lights and stopped in the gore point, and waited for the vehicle to come. At that point I observed the vehicle coming toward me at a high rate of speed," he said.

Officer Frietsch deployed the stop sticks, something he never had to do outside of training.

"It was a leap of faith and I was able to succesfully stick successfully, with the stop sticks," said Friestch.

The car came to stop almost immediately. Nukala was driving on a suspended license from a prior DUI. He told officers he was trying to get home to Gilbert, which was in the opposite direction.