SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Dec. 13, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — An alleged carjacker who brandished a MAC-10 was booked into jail early Monday morning after crashing the stolen vehicle into a police cruiser.
A woman had just gotten into her car, placing the keys into the ignition, the driver’s side door still open, shortly after 10 p.m. Sunday at 7155 S. High Park Drive, when a man forcibly removed her from the vehicle.
“The male demanded the victim’s keys while brandishing a firearm in his waistband,” according to charging documents for Ioelu Toafe, 40, filed by the Unified Police Department.
“The victim responded that the keys were in the vehicle. The male told the victim ‘Don’t do anything stupid’ and left in the vehicle.”
Officers were able to pick up the trail as the victim’s cell phone was still on board, coming across Toafe eastbound on 45th South crossing State Street.
Fully-marked police vehicles initiated lights and sirens but “Toafe did not yield,” according to a probable cause statement. A pursuit was initiated.
Toafe eventually went down a dead-end road after a reportedly 23-minute chase and was taken into custody at 1755 W. Sequoia Vista after crashing the stolen vehicle into a Salt Lake City Police Department sergeant’s fully-marked vehicle.
After Miranda, Toafe agreed to answer questions and admitted to forcibly removing the driver, according to the court documents. “His intentions were to steal the car to get some quick cash.”
“Toafe told me,” according to the probable cause statement, “he did have a MAC-10 in his waistband at the time of the vehicle theft and threw it out the front driver side window shortly after the police pursuit started.” There was no mention in the court file if the weapon was recovered.
A small amount, .8 grams, of meth was found in Toafe’s front left jacket pocket and a records check confirmed his status as a convicted felon. He faces charges of aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony; vehicle theft, a second-degree felony; possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a third-degree felony, and misdemeanor drug possession.
