This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Police say a driver rammed three patrol cars Tuesday afternoon as he led them on a chase from Centerville to Farmington amid rush-hour traffic.

Centerville Police Department officers eventually arrested a 22-year-old suspect about 5 p.m. — but not before he slammed a Farmington Police Department vehicle head-on and evaded a police blockade, a sergeant said. Nobody was injured in the incident, police say, though the suspect was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

Centerville Sgt. Zan Robison said officers responded to a call just after 3:30 p.m. about someone trying to forge a check at the Cyprus Credit Union in the Centerville Wal-Mart, 221 W. Parish Lane. The man fled the scene before police arrived.

Thirty minutes later, a Centerville detective saw the suspect's pickup truck driving near an Interstate 15 on-ramp. The detective tried to stop the truck, Robison said, but the vehicle took off, driving north along the I-15 emergency lane because the freeway was congested. Officers opted not to pursue the man along the emergency lane, Robison said.

Police again saw the pickup — which they later determined was stolen — parked in Farmington, near 200 North and 300 East. The truck again sped away, Robison said, before turning down a dead-end street near Lagoon.

Patrol cars tried to box the pickup in, to no avail. "The suspect turned around and accelerated quickly, hit a marked unit at a good rate of speed, causing damage to both vehicles," Robison said.

The pickup struck the patrol car hard enough to move it out of the way, Robison said. Minutes later, the pickup evaded a police car trying to block Park Lane in Farmington.

Finally, Robison said, officers boxed the vehicle in on Shepard Creek Parkway in Farmington. The driver again tried to get enough momentum to slam two patrol SUVs out of the way, Robison said, but he was unsuccessful.

"He was pretty determined to get away," Robison said.

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