COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, Utah, Oct. 14, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — A man described as a “serious criminal” was taken into custody after a short pursuit and a series of crashes that damaged more than one vehicle in an incident that began just before midnight Saturday.
Cottonwood Heights Police Sgt. Tazoi told Gephardt Daily that an officer had initiated a traffic stop, and when the officer got out of his car, the suspect vehicle took off at high speed.
The officer pursued, but the chase was quickly terminated when the suspect started driving without lights. Officers knew which way he was headed, though, because he drove right past the police station.
“As he drove past, one of our officers was able to spike the suspect vehicle,” Tazoi said, adding that the suspect then committed aggravated assault by running into an officer’s truck.
Racing to evade the police, the suspect apparently hit a telephone pole in the area of 6600 South and 2300 East before driving into a residential neighborhood.
Tazoi said the suspect then hit a parked car and went up onto a lawn. The officer in the truck that had been hit drove up and pinned the suspect vehicle so he couldn’t take off.
“That’s when the driver and his female passenger were taken into custody safely.”
All of the vehicles involved had to be towed away.
The driver was wanted on a couple of felony warrants for robbery and similar offenses, “so he’s a serious criminal,” Tazoi said.
The driver, whose name hasn’t been released, was taken to the hospital to be evaluated for any injuries.
“He complained of some pain on his lower right leg,” Tazoi said. “We want to make sure he’s OK, with the ultimate intent of placing him in jail.”
