KEARNS, Utah, Dec. 19, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — It was a rough Tuesday night for a couple of police officers who were trying to find and help an apparently suicidal woman.
Lt. Manfred Lassig, watch commander with Unified Police Department, said “a series of events” culminated in a patrol car being damaged and an officer being taken to the hospital.
“Some Kearns officers were trying to locate a woman who FaceTimed a friend, indicating she had taken some pills, had a knife, and basically wanted to end her life,” Lassig said.
“After 45 minutes to an hour, they did locate her,” he said. “She pulled into a neighborhood, into a cul-de-sac. The officer saw her, activated his lights and tried to block her.
“She intentionally rammed that officer.”
As the woman fled in her vehicle, another officer was on the way to assist the one who had been rammed, Lassig said, and at 5600 West and 5400 South, a civilian in a vehicle collided with that patrol car.
“West Valley City is handling the investigation on that,” Lassig said. “The one officer has some injuries, and we’re having him checked out at the hospital. The civilian wasn’t injured — just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The woman who had made the suicidal threats “fled eastbound on 5400 at a high rate of speed.” Police did not pursue.
“We’re still going to see if we can locate her and get her the help she needs,” Lassig said.
