SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Oct. 25, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A robbery suspect who fled police in Bountiful was arrested by Salt Lake City Police officers Monday night after a pursuit.
Police say Jose Benito Guanajuato, 37, is a parole fugitive with a previous conviction for possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person.
According to a probable cause statement filed in the case, Guanajuato, “entered a property taking multiple items…”
He then walked toward his vehicle and was confronted by employees, the statement said.
Guanajuato “forcefully attempted to pull the items from an employee…” then threw them down.
When the worker tried to recover the items, Guanajuato “advanced towards the employee, while another employee stepped in…”
Guanajuato “then left the property to retrieve his vehicle and returned to the front of the property… stating that he would be back.”
The exchange was captured on surveillance video.
SLCPD joins in
The SLCPD investigation began at about 10:37 p.m. after the call from Bountiful police, who described the vehicle as a Gray Suzuki Grand Vitara.
“A few minutes after being dispatched, an officer saw the suspect car near 600 W. North Temple Street and tried to stop it,” an SLCPD statement says. “Guanajuato refused to stop and drove away while obeying most traffic laws. Officers tried to use stop sticks to try and deflate the car’s tires.
“While fleeing, Guanajuato continued to obey most traffic laws but refused to stop. Officers stopped following the car. Just after officers stopped following, an SLCPD sergeant learned Guanajuato was the suspect in several recent crimes involving a weapon and was also the suspect in a robbery that occurred a few hours earlier.”
With this new information, officers attempted to stop Guanajuato near 1300 S. State St., “but he still refused to pull over and kept driving at slow speeds, obeying most traffic laws.”
Guanajuato turned west on 3500 South and pulled into a business parking lot near 3500 S. West Temple. A community member blocked Guanajuato’s car with their own vehicle, preventing him from moving his car, the press release said.
Officers commanded Guanajuato to exit his car, but he refused. Officers pulled Guanajuato from the car and took him into custody, police said.
Charges
Officers booked Guanajuato into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail on the existing parole violation charge and on suspicion of:
- Robbery, a second-degree felony
- Four counts of failure to respond to an officer’s signal to stop, a third-degree felony
- Interference with a peace officer, a class B misdemeanor
A judge ordered Guanajuato to be held without bail.
