UMATILLA COUNTY, Oregon, Feb. 4, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A Utah fugitive wanted in a Salt Lake City apartment stabbing is in custody after colliding with a patrol car driven by an Oregon State Police trooper.
According to a press release issued by OSP, troopers spotted the suspect, Daniel Etherington, 46, on Friday at about 9 a.m. driving westbound on Interstate 84.
“Troopers attempted to stop the vehicle near milepost 250 westbound and Etherington failed to yield and a pursuit ensued,” the OSP statement said. “The suspect attempted to avoid having his tires spiked near milepost 218, turned around and began traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes, striking an OSP patrol vehicle.”
The OSP statement said, “Etherington then exited Interstate 84 and traveled cross country in open fields.
“With the assistance of Umatilla Tribal Police Department and Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office deputies, the suspect was contained in the open fields before crashing into a ditch. Etherington was taken into custody without further incident.”
Etherington is no stranger to law enforcement and has a long criminal history, including charges of kidnapping, assault of a police officer and, recently, stabbing a dog to death.
According to a statement released by the Salt Lake City Police Department, he’s wanted in the stabbing of a 29-year-old man in Salt Lake City early Wednesday.
SLCPD said the investigation started at 3:45 a.m. when SLCPD and SLC Fire were notified that a 29-year-old male stabbing victim was being driven to a local hospital.
“During the investigation, police learned the suspect, 46-year-old Daniel Etherington, attacked a woman at an apartment complex near 1450 South West Temple. During the assault, the woman’s boyfriend… arrived at the apartment complex and immediately tried to intervene,” the SLCPD statement said.
Police say Etherington allegedly stabbed the boyfriend multiple times before fleeing.
The stabbing victim and his girlfriend were then taken to an area hospital “by a third party,” who police said had previously driven the boyfriend to the apartment where the stabbing took place.
The victim was reported in critical, but stable, condition.
SLCPD officers responded to the apartment complex, then notified other law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for Etherington and his vehicle.
“At approximately 5:06 a.m. … an outside agency notified the SLCPD that they located the suspect’s vehicle near 3000 West and 2900 South,” the police statement said. Officers then watched as Etherington got into his vehicle and drove off.
Officers from the outside agency followed Etherington’s vehicle until SLCPD officers arrived. When SLCPD officers tried to pull him over, he fled once again. The pursuit was terminated after police say they lost sight of the vehicle due to Etherington’s dangerous driving and winter driving conditions.
Police said Etherington should be considered armed and dangerous and that he was also “wanted in connection to a separate aggravated assault investigation and has unrelated outstanding warrants.”
A review of court documents by Gephardt Daily shows Etherington has faced a variety of criminal charges going back to the 1990s.
On June 16, 2021, a probable cause statement filed in Third District Court in Salt Lake County alleges Etherington destroyed a cash register after threatening the staff at a downtown SLC McDonald’s. An affidavit claims he was angry at a member of the staff he said was not fluent in English.
In August 2021, he was charged with kidnapping after allegedly holding a girlfriend against her will inside his vehicle after she tried to break off their relationship. A probable cause statement said the woman jumped from his vehicle in order to escape, but did not report the incident for a couple of weeks.
On September 14, Etherington was charged with disobeying an officer’s order to stop before leading SLCPD on a brief chase near 900 W. North Temple.
On Sept. 29, Etherington allegedly “destroyed” the inside of the 7-Eleven at 895 E. 4500 South in Millcreek, smashing showcases with a baseball bat while threatening employees.
On Oct. 16, Etherington was charged with animal cruelty after he allegedly stabbed a dog to death inside a motel room at the Gateway Inn on West North Temple. Police at the time said Etherington claimed he acted in self-defense when the dog tried to bite him. Charges in the case were dropped due to a lack of witnesses.
After his arrest in Oregon, Etherington was transported to a local hospital before being lodged at Umatilla County Jail on outstanding felony warrants for aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault from Salt Lake City PD. He now faces charges in Oregon, including reckless driving, reckless endangering, eluding police, criminal mischief and hit and run.
