SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah, Jan. 31, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — A woman rammed a Unified Police Department vehicle while trying to flee from officials on steel rims in the early hours of Thursday morning.
A probable cause statement from the 3rd District Court of Salt Lake County said Kenedi Trujillo Tanpirak, 24, is facing charges of:
- Aggravated assault targeting law enforcement, a first-degree felony
- Receive or transfer stolen vehicle, a second-degree felony
- Failure to respond to officer’s signal to stop, a third-degree felony
- False personal information, a class A misdemeanor
A Unified police officer located a suspicious vehicle parked on the east side of the Discovery Inn at 380 W. 7200 South in Midvale that matched the description of a reported stolen vehicle, the statement said.
The officer saw a woman, later identified as Tanpirak, and a man get into the vehicle and drive east on 7200 South from 300 West. As the officer was following the vehicle, other officers positioned themselves ahead of it, preparing to deploy tire deflating devices.
As the suspect vehicle, driven by Tanpirak, approached the intersection of 7060 S. State St., an officer deployed spikes ahead of it. The suspect slowed the vehicle, observing the spikes, but then accelerated and passed over the top of them, resulting in all four vehicle tires going flat.
The suspect vehicle continued to flee north on State Street as all four tires lost their rubber and the vehicle continued on steel rims, the statement said. The suspect driver entered the oncoming lanes of State Street still traveling north, and began to lose control.
In the area of 5900 S. State St., the suspect vehicle crossed back over into northbound lanes but could not maintain control and spun around to face south. An officer then stopped his police vehicle in front of the suspect vehicle and Tanpirak accelerated rapidly and rammed the suspect vehicle into the front of the patrol vehicle.
Tanpirak then accelerated again, causing the tires to spin and emit sparks, but eventually came to a stop. When officers took Tanpirak into custody, she gave them the wrong first name and the wrong birth date. Officers subsequently found she gave her sister’s information.
She also told police: “I wanted to stop, but my boyfriend made me go! He told me the car was stolen and to not stop!”
Tanpirak “has a long history of providing false information to law enforcement when arrested,” the statement said “In December of 2020, this female suspect was arrested twice for being in possession of a reported stolen vehicle and during each of those incidents, was successful in providing false information to officers using her younger sister’s information.”
She was transported to Salt Lake County Jail, where she is being held without bail.
