MURRAY, Utah, Dec. 26, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — A 19-year-old man was arrested Christmas Day after allegedly leading a Unified police officer on a chase in an unusual vehicle — a stolen U-Haul truck.
Murad Mansurovich Kurbanov is facing charges of second-degree felony theft of a rental vehicle, third-degree felony failure to stop or respond at the command of police, and class B misdemeanor reckless driving, according to a probable cause statement released by Salt Lake’s 3rd District Court.
The incident began at approximately 9:30 a.m., the statement said, when the arresting officer saw a 2018 Ford U-Haul van run multiple red lights and illegally pass numerous vehicles between 4700 S. 700 East, in Murray, then continue to 5600 S. 900 East. The officer then attempted to stop the vehicle at 4300 S. 900 East.
“I activated my emergency equipment and the vehicle failed to yield,” the arresting officer wrote in the probable cause statement. “The driver was described by officers that saw him as a white male with a dark hoodie and hat.”
An eye witness called the vehicle in as reckless and said it stopped at approximately 153 E. 4370 South. The witness described the driver as a Caucasian man wearing a dark hoodie and hat and said the driver ran east into an apartment complex.
The arresting officer and arrived and searched the apartment complex, then found a man fitting the suspect description sitting on the stairs at the complex.
“The male stated he was there to visit a friend in apartment 13,” the statement said. “I walked the male to the floor he said he was visiting and he then said it was apartment 9 not 13. The male knocked on the door and nobody answered. The male then said his friend wasn’t home but that he was just waiting there for him to arrive. The male could not provide a phone number or way to contact the supposed friend he was visiting.”
A backpack with a hat was found behind the apartment complex where the suspect was located.
The vehicle the suspect was driving was supposed to be returned on Dec. 14 and as such it is considered stolen by state law, the statement said.
Kurbanov was booked into Salt Lake County Jail with bail set at $10,000.
