SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah, Dec. 3, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — A woman suspected of stealing an SUV seemed determined to give Unified Police a hard time, starting late Friday when she reportedly attempted to run over a UPD detective.
Unified Police Sgt. Zach Van Emmerik told Gephardt Daily the woman was driving a stolen Chevy Tahoe.
“(UPD) Detective Bennett was following her in an unmarked car,” Van Emmerik said. “When he tried to stop her, she gunned the engine and tried to run him over.”
The detective managed to jump out of the way and wasn’t injured. The Tahoe sped off.
Several hours later, early Saturday morning, officers spotted the same stolen Tahoe heading down 5400 South in Taylorsville.
More officers responded, tire spikes were set up, and the Tahoe ended up coming to a halt in a 7-Eleven parking lot at 5400 S. 3200 West in Taylorsville.
At that moment, a Volkswagen GTI that had been traveling on 5400 South behind the Tahoe suddenly took off at high speed.
It only took a second for police to realize that the woman they were taking into custody from the now disabled Tahoe was not the one who allegedly had tried to run over the detective some hours earlier.
The one who is accused of trying to hit the detective had stolen the Volkswagen at some point, police say, and was now racing down Redwood Road at speeds reportedly near 120 mph.
Sgt. Van Emmerik said police saw the VW tearing through Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake and running red lights on northbound Redwood Road until it failed to negotiate a turn and plowed into the curb at 1700 South and Redwood.
At that point, the woman jumped out of the VW and ran on foot into a nearby apartment complex.
Officers established a containment area and brought in the K9s, and the woman was quickly apprehended.
Sgt. Van Emmerik would only say that both women are adults and the vehicle thefts are not gang-related.
He said he couldn’t release their names because, “It’s all still under investigation, and Detective Bennett is the one handling the case.”
Gephardt Daily will update this story as more information becomes available.
