WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, Sept. 23, 2107 (Gephardt Daily) — A traffic stop early Saturday in West Valley City turned into a chase, then into a rollover accident.
Unified Police spokesman Lt. Brian Lohrke told Gephardt Daily the incident began at about 1:30 a.m. when an officer attempted to stop a man who was driving recklessly while westbound on State Route 201.
As the officer was getting into position to make the stop, the driver hit a median, Lohrke said, then exited at 3200 West.
The officer then initiated the stop, and the driver pulled over, Lohrke said. The officer approached on foot, then the driver sped off.
Back in the patrol car, the officer attempted a pursuit, but the suspect lost control and rolled the vehicle at 3140 West and 3100 South. The man had to be extricated from the vehicle, according to a witness at the scene.
The suspect, identified as Jose Gonzalez Fuentes, was taken to a local hospital in critical but stable condition with an injury to his arm, Lohrke said.
The man was born in the 1990s, but the final number of the year was obscured on the form, he said.
A blood test will determine if the suspect was driving under the influence, but the results are not yet known, Lohrke said.
