OREM, Utah, May 9, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A woman was arrested and is facing an attempted murder charge, among others, after an incident late Friday night in which she allegedly tried to run over an Orem police officer.
The incident was initially reported by Orem Police as an officer-involved shooting that began with a hit-and-run accident on North State Street and led to a pursuit.
According to the charging document, Samantha Bencomo, 27, is accused of:
- Failure to stop at command of law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor
- Failure to remain at the scene of an accident – damage only, a class B misdemeanor
- Attempted murder, a first-degree felony
The details of the case, as reported in a probable cause statement filed in Utah County by an Orem Police officer, are as follows:
One of the owners of Leiva Motors, 1153 N. State St., in Orem, saw a small-sized pickup truck back up and hit a black Jeep Wrangler that was for sale in the business’ parking lot. When the owner approached the truck, the driver (later identified as Bencomo) sped away. The owner of the lot got into his own vehicle and pursued the suspect.
The owner told officers that, at 400 W. 920 North, the pickup truck ran into a cinderblock wall, “causing damage and leaving paint from the suspect truck.”
The truck kept going and pulled into a gas station at 1091 N. State St., with the owner of Leiva Motors following.
A female Orem Police officer then pulled into the gas station, and the owner of Leiva Motors waved the officer down and told her about the hit-and-run in his parking lot.
At that point, Bencomo backed up the pickup truck, started to leave, and the officer went over and gave verbal commands to stop. Bencomo fled, heading south on State Street, the probable cause statement says.
A little later, a different Orem officer saw the suspect truck westbound on 800 North and stopped at the intersection with 800 West.
The male officer, who was in full uniform and driving a marked cruiser, activated his lights and pulled in front of the suspect truck. As the officer got out of his cruiser, he commanded the suspect to stop.
Bencomo is seen in the cruiser’s dash cam video making a hand gesture to the officer.
“Samantha then backs the truck up, stops, then accelerates at a high rate of speed,” the statement says. “As Samantha is accelerating, she swerves the truck toward the Orem Police officer. As the officer side steps to avoid being hit, Samantha changes the direction of the truck towards the officer in a clear attempt to run him over.”
The officer jumped to the side, but the front passenger side of the truck still struck him.
Bencomo fled westbound on 800 North, and a short time later crashed her truck at 980 W. 1600 North, where she was arrested.
Bencomo is being held without bail.
Nothing in the charging document indicates when the Orem officer or officers fired a weapon and does not address the earlier report of an officer-involved shooting.
