This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
An early Monday morning chase ended with a West Valley City police cruiser rammed, a suspected car thief later cornered by a police dog, and homicide detectives in neighboring Salt Lake City getting a break.
WVCPD spokeswoman Roxeanne Vainuku said it all began when officers spotted a parked black Honda Civic belonging to a man wanted for federal child sex offenses. When a male was seen getting behind the wheel and driving off, WVCPD officers followed it into a driveway near 10th Avenue and L Street in neighboring Salt Lake City.
When police attempted to move in, the driver slammed the Honda into reverse, smashing into and disabling a WVCPD cruiser. The suspect then sped from the scene, just missing another police unit; no officers were hurt, Vainuku said.
Concerned with the suspect's reckless flight through a residential neighborhood, the subsequent pursuit was terminated after about a minute. A short time later, the Honda was found abandoned near 1000 East and Kensington Avenue.
A Salt Lake City police K-9 unit joined officers in searching the area and the suspect was located and arrested about two blocks away.
The 23-year-old suspect — Jonathan Ivan Padilla-Lopez — allegedly had just stolen the Honda from the child sex crimes suspect WVCPD was hunting; that man remained at large.
It also turned out that Padilla-Lopez had been "a person of interest" in an investigation into the July 5 shooting death of 16-year-old Paris Gustin in northwest Salt Lake City.
"We wanted to question him, and we have since spoken to him," said SLCPD Detective Greg Chipping.
Although Padilla-Lopez was found with a loaded handgun when arrested, he is not a suspect in the Gustin slaying, Chipping said.
Police declined to say if questioning had moved investigators any closer to an arrest in the case.
However, police earlier had said that along with Padilla-Lopez, they were looking for 22-year-old Fortunato Nato Villagrana. He, too, remained at large Monday.
Gustin was a front seat passenger in a carload of teens that allegedly drew gunfire after "egging" several vehicles. He was wounded and died a short time later, still inside the car.
Padilla-Lopez was booked into the Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of felony counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, evading arrest, possession of a firearm by a restricted person and additional drug-related charges.
Twitter: @remims