This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Nine days after being freed from jail, a 22-year-old man's alleged habit of stealing vehicles landed him back in a cell, albeit in a neighboring county.
The man was released from Emery County jail on June 7 for alleged vehicle theft, but he was booked again in Sanpete County on Thursday, police say.
Emery County police received a report at 7 a.m. that a fence had been run over in several places, according to a news release from the Emery County Sheriff's Office. Police said a license plate that belonged to a stolen white pickup truck had been left at the scene.
The truck was found abandoned with "significant damage" a short time later, the release says.
The man apparently abandoned the truck, police say, stole an all-terrain vehicle from a nearby farm, crashed it through another farm's fence and broke into another truck.
He couldn't find keys in the truck, the release says, so he walked to another farmhouse where the truck's owner saw him steal a maroon pickup truck.
The owner of the maroon truck followed the man to State Road 31, where he headed west toward Fairview, the release said, and told a family member to call police.
Utah Highway Patrol responded along with officers from Emery, Carbon and Sanpete counties, according to the release.
Officers from Sanpete County Sheriff's Office set up a roadblock in Fairview, but the man dodged it and continued driving, the release said. A deputy from Sanpete County fired a single shot into one of the tires, the release said, but the driver continued at high speeds down 400 North, according to a news release from Sanpete County.
A chase ensued, and the man crashed into several fences and finally the corner of a house near 300 West and 400 North, the releases say.
The man suffered minor injuries from the crash, but no one in the home was hurt, the releases say.
The man was detained and taken to a local hospital, where he was treated and released. Police said he later was booked into the Sanpete County jail.
Investigators have not ruled out drugs or alcohol as a factor in the incident, the Sanpete release says.
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