West Jordan Police officer injured after SUV smashes into cruiser at scene of hit-and-run

Photo: Gephardt Daily

WEST JORDAN, Utah, Sept. 29, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — A West Jordan Police officer was injured early Thursday morning when an SUV hit his cruiser while he was assisting with traffic control on Redwood Road due an earlier hit-and-run crash.

West Jordan Police Sgt. Joe Monson said the series of events began at approximately 12:30 a.m. when police were dispatched to reports of a man acting strangely in the area of 8600 S. Redwood Road. The man reportedly had blood all over his face and was trying to get in and out of cars, and had even tried to enter a house, Monson said.

“He was acting irrational and being aggressive. A Taser was deployed and he was taken into custody,” Monson said.

Officers then determined that the man, 21-year-old Ethan Roach, had been involved with an auto-pedestrian crash nearby, but the driver had left the scene.

“He had facial injuries consistent with being hit by a vehicle,” Monson said.

It is unclear at this time whether the man’s irrational behavior was a result of his head injury or whether he was acting oddly prior to being injured, Monson said. Roach was taken to an area hospital in serious condition.

Monson said it is too early to determine whether any charges will be brought against Roach.

A Crash Analysis Reconstruction Team (CART) then arrived on the scene to investigate and reconstruct the incident.

While this was happening, an SUV broadsided a police vehicle that was parked at the scene with its flashing lights on. The police vehicle was pushed into an officer that was assisting with traffic control at the scene.

The officer, whose name has not been released, was taken by ground ambulance to an area hospital with a possible concussion. Monson said he is in good condition as of Thursday morning.

The driver of the SUV was transported to the hospital with a non-life-threatening head injury, and is also in good condition.

Monson said that two different investigations will take place, one into the hit-and-run, and the other into the collision with the police cruiser.

He said it is too early to say whether any charges will be brought against the driver of the SUV, or whether there were contributing factors such as distraction, speed or impairment that led to the collision.

Monson added that anyone with information about the hit-and-run can is asked to call WJPD at 801-840-4000.

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