Law enforcement officers are searching for a man used the stolen vehicle he’d been sleeping in to ram the police vehicles that had boxed him in.
Police identified the suspect as 39-year-old Harley Gregory Welsh, of Taylorsville. In the last year, Welsh has been convicted of third-degree felony theft by receiving stolen property, class A misdemeanor theft and intentional criminal mischief, a class A misdemeanor.
Police got a call about 9:45 a.m. from someone reporting a suspicious vehicle with a man sleeping inside, near 4900 S. Howick Street (about 150 West) in Millcreek, according to Unified police Detective Ken Hansen. An officer at the scene determined the vehicle had been stolen and called for backup.
Officers set up tire spikes and boxed in the stolen vehicle by parking their patrol vehicles in front of and behind it, Hansen said. When they woke the man up, he drove the stolen vehicle forward and backward, ramming the police vehicles, until he could drive out of the spot at an angle, according to Hansen.
The man drove east on Central Avenue, though the spikes had punctured the back tires of the vehicle, Hansen said. He ditched the vehicle in a gravel parking lot near 32 E. Central Avenue, Hansen said, and fled east on foot.
The man then stole a black Ford Excursion from at Cottonwood Motors (50 E. Central Avenue). The SUV had been running, Hansen said, was about to be connected to a trailer.
Hansen said police believe the man may still be driving the excursion, which has additional antennas, making it easier to spot.
Police consider the man dangerous because of his interaction with officers Tuesday morning.
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