SLCPD gang unit nabs armed fugitive in early morning bust

File Photo: Gephardt Daily/Monico Garza/SLCScanner/

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Jan. 22, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — A gun-toting fugitive with multiple outstanding warrants was nabbed by police early Saturday.

According to a Sunday morning press release, “the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Gang Unit and Pioneer Division Bike Squad safely arrested a 42-year-old fugitive and recovered an illegally possessed handgun.

“This investigation started on Saturday January 22, 2023, at 12:42 a.m. when officers and detectives assigned to the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Gang Unit found a car associated with Jose Leon Johnson near 400 N. Pamela Way,” the press release said.

Police say Johnson is a restricted person, meaning “he is not allowed to have access to any firearms. Officers and detectives also learned Johnson had several active arrest warrants.”

Officers with the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Pioneer Division Bike Squad followed the suspect, but “when officers tried to arrest Johnson, he drove off.”

Police say Johnson headed south on Interstate 215 and into South Salt Lake before officers conducted a felony traffic stop near 4010 South 300 East.

“After getting out of his car, Johnson tried running away,” police said. Before he could be taken into custody, he “pulled out a firearm and threw it on the ground.”

Officers placed Johnson under arrest and booked him into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail “on numerous felony and misdemeanor charges, including being a restricted person in possession of a firearm.

Evidence photo Salt Lake City Police Department

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