DRAPER, Utah, April 24, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — An incident involving two juvenile suspects brought out personnel from three cities Tuesday night after police say one of the juveniles pulled a knife when confronted by a Draper officer.
A subsequent minor car crash occurred when additional police were called to the scene.
The Draper officer was returning from the Salt Lake County Jail when he noticed a couple of people walking in the area of 11400 South and 200 West, according to Draper Police Sgt. Mike Elkins.
The officer knew from information on his computer that the two were suspects in a shoplifting in Sandy.
When the officer pulled over to make contact with the two — both juveniles — one of them jumped a fence and produced a knife, Elkins said.
“The officer drew out his Taser and tried to give commands,” he said.
One juvenile was compliant and was taken into custody, but “the other not so much.”
The Draper officer called for more units and asked them to “expedite,” so several more officers responded to the area with lights and sirens activated.
A concrete divider near the scene separates the traffic, and an officer who was in his car on one side of the divider had a minor collision with a citizen’s vehicle that was getting off the freeway as they were both going into the same area.
Elkins said no one was injured, and the citizen’s first concern was for the police.
The Taser was deployed, and the resisting juvenile was taken into custody.
Elkins said both juveniles had kitchen knives, and one had an airsoft gun that police say was stolen from a store in Sandy. Sandy police have taken that juvenile into custody.
South Jordan officials came out to take care of the vehicle that was in the accident.
“We’re fortunate that we carry less-lethal tools…,” Elkins said. “In this case, a knife was produced and the Taser did its job.”
