SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Oct. 4, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — A multi-hour police standoff in a downtown motel ended when the suspects apparently cut a hole in the ceiling and fled.
Salt Lake City police had streets around the Main Street Motel at 1518 S Main St. blocked off throughout Tuesday night with a SWAT call-out, closing Main Street from Bryan Avenue to Kensington Avenue.
Efforts to contact the suspects in their room weren’t productive, according to posts from the department through the night.
By 12:43 a.m. Wednesday police announced the operation was shutting down without arrests, the suspects gone, and city streets would be reopened by 1 a.m.
Events began to unfold at about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday when patrol officers say they saw a stolen motorcycle abandoned at the Main Street Motel. While officers were investigating the stolen motorcycle they located surveillance video showed the suspect going inside one of the hotel rooms.
Officers secured the area and began efforts to communicate with the suspect. During that time officers learned the man had access to a knife, and there was a second person inside the motel room who had an active felony warrant for her arrest, police said.
She also refused to exit, according to police.
“When SLCPD SWAT officers approached the room, they discovered the suspects had cut a hole inside the motel room’s ceiling and accessed the attic.
“The location of the two suspects is unknown,” police said.
SWAT officers meticulously searched the attic and crawl spaces of the motel, but did not locate either suspect.
Anyone with information on their whereabouts should call 801-799-3000.
