SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah, Aug. 23, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — A 23-year-old man has been booked into jail after police say he stole a Draper Police officer’s patrol car, and led officials on a high-speed chase as he tried to escape.
Kent Cody Barlow, a parole fugitive, has been charged on suspicion of six felonies and 10 misdemeanors in the case.
The complete list is:
- Two counts of receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, a second-degree felony
- Two counts of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a second-degree felony
- Two counts of failure to respond to officer’s signal to stop, a third-degree felony
- False personal info/intent to be another actual person, a class A misdemeanor
- Reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor
- Failure to stop at command of law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor
- Obstruction of justice, a class A misdemeanor
- Two counts of possession of a controlled substance, schedule 1/2/analog
- Two counts of reckless driving, a class B misdemeanor
- Duty of operator after leaving scene with knowledge of accident, a class B misdemeanor
- Use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor
The incident began overnight when a Cottonwood Heights patrol officer tried to stop a motorcyclist, later identified as Barlow, due to the lack of a license plate. The suspect was cruising southbound on 1300 East.
“I attempted to stop a motorcycle in the area of Park Centre Drive and Union Park Avenue,” says a probable cause statement filed by the Cottonwood Heights officer.
“The driver immediately accelerated away from my police vehicle with the emergency lights activated. The motorcycle fled the area and a pursuit was initiated. During the pursuit the motorcycle driver ran multiple red lights and was speeding.”
The suspect reportedly reached a speed of 90 mph before reaching 10600 South, where the officer terminated the chase.
About 10 minutes later, police in Draper spotted the motorcyclist driving down the sidewalk near 11685 S. Pond Ridge Drive.
“The male fled on foot after multiple commands to stop,” the statement says. “The male then doubled back on pursuing officers and stole a Draper City Police vehicle and again fled. Multiple officers located the stolen police vehicle and pursued the vehicle.
“During this second pursuit the driver of the stolen vehicle was speeding and again ran several red lights without any regard for the safety of the public.”
The suspect also crashed through a fence in the area of 11600 South 700 East in Draper, “causing damage to both the police vehicle and the fence at this location,” the probable cause statement says. “The stolen police vehicle was spiked by assisting officers at 9400 South 700 East, but continued to flee with two flat tires.”
The suspect lost control of the Draper Police car when he attempted to turn onto 7565 South at 700 East, and crashed into a set of mailboxes, the statement says.
“The male driver exited the vehicle and initially complied with officers commands, but once handcuffs were attempted to be placed onto the male he began to resist arrest by pulling his arms away from officers.”
Once secured in a police vehicle, Barlow gave his name as Kent Anderson, which was a lie.
“The male was actually found to be a parole fugitive by the name of Kent Cody Barlow (DOB 08/09/1996). The motorcycle the suspect was initially driving was found and confirmed to have been stolen out of South Jordan Utah. Kent was found to be a convicted felon on parole with several outstanding warrants for his arrest, including a no parole violation warrant.”
Found still accessible in the stolen police car were the AR-15 rifle and a Glock pistol. A black backpack worn by Barlow when police first encountered him was located, and found to contain several items of drug paraphernalia and a small amount of a substance that appears to be meth, and another tar-like substance believed to be heroin.
The substances were not tested at the scene due to concerns for officer safety, the probable cause statement says.
Also found in the backpack were several tools commonly used for burglaries.
Barlow’s bail has been set at $50,000.
