SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah, August 13, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — Repeated phone calls to police dispatchers from a man threatening suicide led to a prolonged police chase Sunday in the Salt Lake Valley.
Lt. Brian Lohrke, spokesman for the Unified Police Department, told Gephardt Daily the tense game of cat-and-mouse began around 10 a.m. when a man identified as Braulio Rios-Morales, age 39, told 911 dispatchers he was in the Smith’s store parking lot at 4700 S. 4100 West, and was thinking of harming himself.
Lohrke said he was quickly spotted by Kearns police officers who attempted to contact Rios-Morales only to see him drive away. Officers made the decision not to give chase, citing the heavy traffic.
Minutes later, Rios-Morales called 911, this time from the parking lot of Valley Fair Mall. He once again expressed suicidal thoughts and appeared to be intoxicated, Lohrke said.
Police attempted to make contact a second time and Rios-Morales bolted, leading officers on a winding chase.
Lohrke said that during the chase Rios-Morales was involved in an accident near I-215 and 3500 South, which resulted in minor injuries.
With the chase slowing to 35 miles per hour, and Rios-Morales driving on three wheels, police made the decision to perform a PIT maneuver, bringing the chase to a sudden stop near 1975 W. 4100 South.
Rios-Morales was taken into custody without further incident and was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail. He is facing charges including driving under the influence of alcohol, driving on a suspended license, failure to remain at the scene of an accident, failure to stop or respond at the command of a police officer and reckless driving.
The number of people injured in the accident during the police pursuit has yet to be released.
