Heroin, cocaine recovered after suspect crashes into Kearns resident’s yard; 2 in custody

Two suspects were taken into custody Sunday morning after a traffic stop led to a car chase and a drug bust. Photo: Gephardt Daily

KEARNS, Utah, May 14, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — Multiple balloons police say were filled with heroin and cocaine were recovered Sunday morning after a traffic stop that began in West Jordan ended with a crash into the yard of a Kearns residence.

The incident began at approximately 8 a.m., Lt. Rich Bell of the West Jordan Police Department told Gephardt Daily. A WJPD officer observed a car driving recklessly and nearly hitting pedestrians, prompting a traffic stop at about 70th South and Jordan Landing Boulevard.

“She found the driver of the vehicle to be extremely intoxicated,” Bell said. “The driver became belligerent and extremely uncooperative, and at that point, our officer took the driver into custody and called for additional units.”

The car’s passenger then climbed into the driver’s seat and fled, Bell said. Officers in the area were able to spot the car, and pursued it for 30 seconds to a minute before terminating the chase due to possible danger to area residents, he said.

“Shortly after officers terminated, we received information that the vehicle involved had crashed into a yard in the Kearns area,” Bell said, adding that the effort was a collaboration between the West Jordan and the Unified Police departments.

“We were able to set up a containment, call in a canine, and were subsequently able to take the driver of the vehicle into custody,” Bell said.

“In the course of taking the suspects into custody, we recovered a fairly large number of balloons containing heroin and cocaine that were in possession of one of the suspects.”

The suspects’ car had stopped when it crashed into the yard of the residence of Joe Dahlgreen, of Kearns. The vehicle crashed through a wooden fence and a chain-link fence before coming to a stop.

“I thought there was a car accident here at this intersection,” Dahlgreen told Gephardt Daily, “but when I got out to investigate, I see someone has drove through two of my fences, and I see the driver in my yard, trying to jump over my other fence to the backyard.

“I tell him to get out of my yard. The police are after him. I yelled at him and told him to get out of my yard, then he just took off running.”

Investigators were interviewing both suspects late Sunday morning, Bell said, trying to determine the two males’ identities and ages, and to determine whether they were juveniles or young adults.

“Something like this is not usual for 8 a.m. on a Mother’s Day,” Bell said. “Fortunately, nobody was hurt.” Bell praised the area residents for not engaging with the fleeing male, and instead calling the police with information that helped in the capture.

“The situation had the potential to be very, very dangerous,” he said. “Unfortunately there was some property damage, but nobody was hurt or killed.”

 

 

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