WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, Oct. 11, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — Police are on the lookout for three carjacking suspects who gave officers the slip after a dramatic chase in West Valley City late Thursday night.
According to WVCPD Sgt. Dennis Martinez, the incident began about 11:04 p.m. when the masked suspects commandeered a car near 3600 S. Queen’s Pointe Lane 1300 West.
Forty-five minutes later, the vehicle was spotted 15 blocks away near 4800 South 800 West and officers gave chase.
Martinez said about one minute into the pursuit, a 16-year-old boy, believed to be a carjacking victim, jumped or was pushed from the moving vehicle moments after police spiked the cars’ tires.
The car continued a short distance before crashing into a wall near a driveway at the end of a dead end street.
The three suspects sprang from the vehicle and bounded into the surrounding neighborhood.
Officers from Unified PD, Salt Lake City and Herriman, set up a large perimeter and called in K-9 units to aid the search for the suspects.
A UHP helicopter joined the search from the air.
Martinez said police turned up two rifles and a hand gun inside the car. A second pistol was found in a nearby backyard.
The 16-year-old victim, who escaped from the moving car, was taken by ambulance to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray with non-life threatening injuries.
Investigators say they are exploring the possibility he knew his attackers.
Police called off search efforts about 1:30 a.m.
Gephardt Daily will update the story as more information becomes available.