WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, March 6, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Police from multiple agencies responded to the area of a westside warehouse after a West Valley City PD officer investigating a commercial alarm had his patrol truck rammed and disabled by a fleeing box truck.
Dispatch was alerted to the alarm at 2:37 a.m. Wednesday, and officers responded to 6312 W. Beagley Road.
“The first officer on scene observed an open door on one of the businesses that the alarm was coming from,” Andrew Steinbrecher, WVCPD, told Gephardt Daily. “He observed this box truck leaving from the immediate vicinity of the business as he was pulling up, so he got behind the box truck with the intent of pulling it over or just at least getting their attention.
“They suddenly stopped and reversed into the front of his truck, disabling it. The officer was not injured.”
The box truck pulled away, and it was located quickly by other officers responding to the scene, Steinbrecher said.
“We did the canine track and the drones,” he said. “We were not able to locate the suspects. We believe based upon the evidence we have that they were stealing items from that business, which I would probably classify as construction material type stuff. And we’re looking for between one and three suspects.”
Assisting police agencies came from South Salt Lake, Unified, West Jordan and Taylorsville, Steinbrecher said. The box truck used had not been reported stolen as of Wednesday morning, he said, adding that trucks used in such crimes almost always are.
Items stolen were recovered from the truck left behind, Steinbrecher said.
