WEST JORDAN, Utah, Dec. 28, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — West Jordan police have identified a man they say sparked a SWAT response Friday morning when he allegedly fled police, led officers on a pursuit, and hid, while armed, in the backyard of a stranger.
“Suspect from yesterday’s fleeing is Aaron Gudmundson,” says a tweet issued Saturday by the West Jordan Police Department. “He has been booked in jail.”
Gudmundson, 37, has been booked on suspicion of:
- Failure to stop or respond at command of police, a third-degree felony
- Failure to stop at the command of law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor
- Criminal trespass, a class B misdemeanor
- Criminal mischief, a class B misdemeanor
A probable cause statement filed in the case says an officer observed a suspect, later identified as Gudmundson, travel east through the intersection of 5600 West and 7800 South at a high rate of speed. The officer activated his siren, “as he was still going extremely fast,” the statement says.
“I kept my lights and sirens on long enough and got close enough for the suspect to reasonably believe I was attempting to pull him over. I terminated the pursuit as the suspect began going into oncoming traffic and narrowly missing other vehicles.
“I located the vehicle pulling onto Wood Green and the suspect stopped the
vehicle in a driveway and began running away on foot. I exited my vehicle and made loud announcements to the suspect to stop and come to me. The suspect then pointed what appeared to be a black handgun at his head and stated he would shoot himself if I did not stop. At this point I backed off and the suspect fled into a private backyard.”
A SWAT team was summoned, and the area was contained. Eventually, the suspect surrendered peacefully. He was taken into custody at 7:19 a.m. Friday.
Gudmundson’s bail was set at $8,310.
The investigation is ongoing, and police were attempting to answer questions including Gudmunson was driving was stolen.
Gephardt Daily will have more on this story as information is released.
