TAYLORSVILLE, Utah, Dec. 21, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — Police have a suspect in custody after a chase from Taylorsville to Salt Lake City early Thursday morning.
Wes Tauteoli, 33, was taken into custody just before 2 a.m., Lt. Ken Malone from the Unified Police Department told Gephardt Daily.
Malone said an officer performed a routine inspection of an apartment complex in Taylorsville at approximately 1:45 a.m., and located a stolen vehicle. They attempted to speak with Tauteoli, who was in the vehicle, but he fled.
“The officer followed and attempted to stop the vehicle in Taylorsville, and driver fled rather than stopping,” Malone said. “We had some unmarked vehicles follow it trying to get down some spikes in hopes to get the vehicle stopped.”
The suspect drove from Taylorsville to Salt Lake City, and at 1700 S. Main Street, police were finally able stop Tauteoli using spike strips.
“We were able to spike the vehicle and the driver of that vehicle chose to back up and ram our officer who was behind him with lights and sirens on,” Malone said. “At that point we started a short pursuit.”
Tauteoli was only able to drive at approximately 15 to 20 miles per hour, and finally came to a stop on 200 S. 650 West, where he was taken into custody without further incident .
The suspect is now facing multiple felony charges including aggravated assault on a police officer, Malone said.
There were no injuries in the course of the incident.
