SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah, Nov. 9, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Police say a man rammed a patrol car with his stolen truck then hit two other vehicles while fleeing, sending a woman to the hospital.
Upon arrest the suspect told EMTs and police he had smoked both fentanyl and methamphetamine earlier in the day, according to charging documents for Lutolofi “Lofi” Marcel Maama, 27.
He was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on suspicion of 12 offenses, including assault on a police officer, vehicle theft, evading police, leaving the scene of an accident, the long list including DUI, drug possession, driving on a revoked license, and false information to a police officer.
On Friday, a 3rd District Court judge ordered he be held without bail.
Events began Thursday evening when a South Salt Lake policeman spotted a stolen white Chevrolet 150 pickup truck in a parking lot at 4087 S. Main. As he rolled up with his emergency lights on, the driver put the truck in reverse and rammed the front of the patrolcar, according to Maama’s probable cause affidavit.
“Lofi immediately put the vehicle into drive and jumped the curbing of the property and headed southbound onto 4000 S Main and quickly turned eastbound onto Central Avenue and then northbound onto State Street,” according to the affidavit. He failed to stop despite the siren, the officer wrote, running a red light at the 3900 S. State Street intersection, where he collided with a white Nissan Rogue, causing injuries that sent the driver to the hospital, and rolled the truck.
Maama fled the crash scene on foot, running eastbound through a parking lot then southbound onto State Street “where he eventually laid onto the ground and was placed in handcuffs by officers.” At one point in the short pursuit, Maama had hit a vehicle in a parking lot, but with no apparent injuries.
Maama initially identified himself to police by a relative’s name and date of birth, but could not tell them his Social Security number, according to the charging documents. He resembled the driver license photos for both men, police said, but his identity was eventually confirmed by his tattoos, and he admitted he was Lofi.
