BRIGHAM CITY, Utah, April 19, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Police arrested a 32-year-old Roy man accused of stealing three cars in Tremonton, crashing one of them and then hiding from officers in a storage shed.
Officers responded a little after 5 a.m. Thursday to investigate a stolen Chevy truck near 1200 North and 5200 West, according to the Tremonton-Garland Police Department.
The truck was found a little after 6 a.m. parked in the driveway of a home near 925 W. 700 North, where a Honda Accord had been stolen, police said.
Just before 7 a.m., the Honda Accord was found at another Tremonton home near 650 S. Tremont St., where a black Toyota Camry was reported stolen, according to police.
About 7:20 a.m., a Utah Highway Patrol trooper spotted to the stolen Camry and attempted to pull over the driver, Joshua Andrew Sotomayor, arrest documents say.
Sotomayor refused to pull over and fled from the trooper, who terminated the pursuit for the safety of other motorists, Brigham City police said in a news release. Arrest documents say Sotomayor exited Interstate 15, ran a red light and passed vehicles on the right before fleeing “at a high rate of speed.”
The trooper later located the Camry unoccupied near 1000 West and state Route 13, where a witness reported seeing the vehicle crash and the driver flee on foot toward businesses in the area, the release says.
The Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office joined UHP and the Brigham City and Tremonton-Garland police departments in setting up a perimeter to prevent Sotomayor’s escape. A drone and K-9 units assisted in the search, police said.
Brigham City police say Sotomayor had been hiding in a storage shed and was later found inside an unlocked vehicle in the area. He was taken into custody without further incident.
Sotomayor had two 9 mm handguns in his backpack and 140 grams of meth in his fanny pack at the time of his arrest, according to a probable cause statement filed in Brigham City’s 1st District Court. He also had multiple financial cards belonging to the owner of the stolen Chevy truck, according to court documents.
Sotomayor later told police he had been selling meth to people in Box Elder County, arrest documents say. He also was on parole at the time of his arrest, police said.
Sotomayor was arrested for investigation of:
- Three counts of theft of an operable motor vehicle, a second-degree felony
- Two counts of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a second-degree felony
- Fraudulent distribution of a controlled substance, a third-degree felony
- Unlawful acquisition and possession of a financial card, a third-degree felony
- Failure to stop or respond at command of police, a third-degree felony
- Possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor
- Improper passing, an infraction
He is being held without bail in the Box Elder County Jail.
