WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, Oct. 2, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A woman is dead and a man is in custody after a chain of events that started when West Valley City police noticed a man smoking an illegal drug at Fairbourne Plaza, just west of West Valley City Hall.
“Just before 9 a.m., officers patrolling the area around Fairbourne Plaza came across a man smoking marijuana in the park. Officers stopped to talk to the man and he took off on foot,” a WVCPD statement says.
“The suspect ran through the parking lot at City Hall, where some electrical workers were outside of their work truck. The suspect jumped in the truck and took off, hitting one of the workers with the vehicle.
“An officer spotted the suspect traveling southbound on 2700 West, and saw him turn into the mall parking lot, but lost sight of him. A short time later, officers spotted the stolen vehicle, pulled over in the neighborhood south of Costco. The officers approached and the suspect fled again, ramming two police vehicles.”
He drove away from the neighborhood, and entered 2400 West going the wrong direction, the statement says.
“As he sped down 2400 West, he hit a vehicle head on. The woman driving that vehicle has died. She was a 52-year-old woman from Salt Lake City.”
The stolen vehicle driven by the man rolled, and he was captured, checked out and medically cleared, the statement says.
“The worker who was hit by the suspect has also been checked out. He suffered some minor injuries, but is expected to be OK.”
Gephardt Daily will have additional information as details are released.
