SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah, July 11, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — A woman in a stolen vehicle was arrested Tuesday morning after police say she tried to ram officers’ cars twice during a chase from Taylorsville to Midvale.
Rachel Powell, 23, was taken into custody just after 6 a.m. and was booked on charges of first-degree felony aggravated robbery, second-degree felony receive or transfer of a stolen vehicle, two counts of second-degree felony aggravated assault, third-degree felony possession of a controlled substance, and misdemeanor failure to stop a vehicle or fleeing.
A probable cause statement from Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office said that at about 5 a.m., Powell was driving a Nissan Sentra on 4700 South and 2200 West, and when she saw an officer, she intentionally drove at him, head-on, almost colliding with his vehicle. The officer had to make an evasive move, turning to the right to avoid the collision.
“The officer was able to turn around and catch up to the vehicle and initiated his emergency lights and siren,” the statement said. “The vehicle was found to be stolen out of Murray City and had recently fled from Sandy Police officers minutes prior.”
A pursuit was initiated and the suspect continued north on 2200 West to 3500 South and entered northbound Interstate 215 northbound. The chase continued until 1300 South, where the suspect left the highway and drove around some industrial streets before heading back toward 1300 South.
Another officer was travelling west in the area of 1300 South when the suspect turned east on 1300 South and attempted to drive head-on into that officer.
The officer moved out of the way and the pursuit continued east on 1300 South to Redwood Road and headed south. The suspect entered Interstate 80 eastbound, drove to the I-15 interchange and continued south on I-15. The vehicle then exited the freeway on 7200 South and went east. The suspect drove the vehicle through two gas station parking lots.
“The suspect then drove east onto 7200 South and went through the UTA TRAX cross arms that were down and continued east,” the probable cause statement continues. “The vehicle became disabled and came to a stop at 7200 South and 180 West. The suspect got out of the vehicle while it was still moving forward and ran up to another vehicle that was driving and attempted to get in her vehicle trying to take her car.”
The suspect was then stopped by officers and taken into custody. She was transported to Salt Lake Metro Jail without incident.
