Police officers fired their weapons at and later apprehended a man who tried to flee in a vehicle and on foot after he was stopped in American Fork on Saturday. Officers say he had been driving erratically in a vehicle they believed to be stolen, according to a news release.
The man is in police custody after attempting to evade officers from American Fork and Pleasant Grove.
Officers were dispatched after a report came in that someone in a car with “substantial damage” was driving erratically and into oncoming traffic near 500 East and 300 North in American Fork. Based on the description, officers identified the vehicle as one that had been stolen and involved in an “incident” in Pleasant Grove earlier in the day.
The man refused to follow officers’ commands when contacted after the vehicle stopped in American Fork, the release states. At some point, officers fired their weapons. Information on why and how many shots were fired was not immediately available.
The man then led officers on a car chase into Lehi, according to the release. Tire deflation devices laid by the police blew out at least one of his tires, and he crashed the vehicle into a parked car near 700 North and 700 East. He then fled on foot through several neighborhood yards before officers were able to apprehend him, police say.
He was taken to a hospital as a precaution, but according to police reports, neither he nor any of the officers were injured during the ordeal.
Because officers fired their weapons, the Utah County Officer Involved Critical Incident Protocol Team was called in to take over the investigation. The man was booked into the Utah County jail on Saturday night, police say.
The police report stated that the man has “a very extensive criminal history including violent offenses and is flagged as an offender with violent tendencies.”
He is also allegedly a fugitive of the U.S. Marshals Service wanted on weapons-related charges with a warrant out for his arrest.
