SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah, Jan. 16, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — Police were looking for a suspect who was stealing cars and fleeing from police for several hours Tuesday throughout Salt Lake County. The effort paid off and a suspect is now in custody.
Unified Police said Hiki Loumori, 33, was arrested on suspicion of stealing two vehicles and attempting to steal a third one.
UPD Detective Jared Richardson said the first reported incident occurred at about 9:30 a.m. at 6120 S. 2075 East in Holladay, when a parent dropped their child off at a daycare and came out to find their vehicle stolen.
Richardson said the vehicle had a tracking device, and officers were able to locate the vehicle in the south end of Holladay, where they attempted to make a traffic stop.
The driver fled, and police did not pursue because of the possible risk to others in the area.
A short time later, the vehicle was spotted again, but again fled when officers tried to stop it.
The vehicle was ultimately found abandoned at 10385 S. Willow Hill Drive in Sandy, where the suspect tried to steal a different vehicle from a garage.
Richardson said in that incident, the homeowner came into the garage, saw the suspect and pulled him out of the vehicle. The suspect immediately fled.
At 10244 S. Hidden Valley Road, the suspect jumped into another vehicle and drove off while the driver was out of it, throwing away trash.
Richardson said Cottonwood Heights and/or Sandy police picked up on the location of that car and tried to stop it. When the suspect fled in the car, police initiated a pursuit that led them to 10241 S. Phlox St.
At the Phlox Street location, they found that the car had been abandoned in a deep driveway, where the suspect apparently hoped it wouldn’t be easily seen.
Nearby residents reported that the suspect fled in a northwest direction, so officers from Cottonwood Heights, Sandy and UPD set up a containment area and brought in two canines to search for him.
In the meantime, Alta View Elementary School was placed on lockdown for the safety of students and staff.
Richardson said containment was pulled after about 90 minutes. The suspect wasn’t found, and the school lockdown was lifted.
Witnesses described the suspect as a Polynesian male, medium build, with distinctive “big, very dark, bushy hair.”
It was reported that he mentioned having a gun in at least once instance.
Richardson said no physical force was used in these incidents, but officials were concerned because the man was running from the police and they wanted to know why.
Anyone who has any information regarding any of these incidents is encouraged to call UPD at 801-743-7000.
