SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Oct. 27, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — Police arrested one of two suspects in a stolen pickup truck Wednesday after the driver ran a stop sign, hit a passenger car, then clipped a police SUV.
A woman in the passenger car suffered critical injuries, according to a Salt Lake City Police press release, while the two officers in the SUV were uninjured and gave chase when two suspects fled on foot from the stolen truck at the crash scene at 1000 W. 400 S.
The woman injured in the 5 p.m. incident was the sole occupant and emergency responders transported her to a hospital in critical condition. Doctors have since upgraded her condition, police said.
The suspected thieves in the tan Ford pick-up were not being pursued by police, according to the release, after an officer a block south of the crash scene logged its license plate as that of a stolen vehicle.
“The officer did not chase or follow the pick-up,” the press release said.
Nonetheless the driver of the pick-up drove northbound on 1000 West “at a high rate of speed,” according to the release.
“When the pick-up reached the intersection of 1000 West and 400 South, witnesses saw the driver of the pick-up run the stop sign. The pick-up crashed into the passenger-side of a car traveling eastbound on 400 South.”
As the crash between the pick-up and car happened, an SLCPD patrol SUV, with two officers inside, happened to be on routine patrol traveling westbound on 400 South.
They were able to avoid a full-on collision with the other two vehicles, according to the release, the backside of the stolen truck delivering a glancing blow to the front passenger side of the police vehicle.
Officers arrested one of the two suspects from the truck in the ensuing foot chase, the second remaining at large. Officers are still working to determine whether the person in custody is the driver of the pick-up or passenger.
Members of the SLCPD auto theft, crash reconstruction and crime lab units responded to the scene.
