This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
A person involved in a March 18 high-speed chase near Salt Lake City fired a handgun several times at the pursuing officers, striking one patrol car's headlights, according to charging documents filed Tuesday.
The early-morning, half-hour chase began in West Valley City and spent considerable time on Interstate 215. Police pursued the stolen silver car into Salt Lake City, then south into Murray before officers laid a spike strip that caused the car to strike a highway barrier, officials said.
Several second-degree felony and misdemeanor charges were filed Tuesday against the 24-year-old driver and a 20-year-old passenger. They included two second-degree felony charges of assaulting an officer for the passenger, who allegedly fired the handgun.
A West Valley Police officer tried to stop the car for not having license plates near the Sleep Inn at 3440S. Decker Lake Drive (about 2200 West). The driver later said he fled because he knew the car was stolen and that "he didn't want to go to jail," according to the documents.
As they sped along, the passenger allegedly tossed "multiple items out of the car's sunroof." According to the charges, he also fired a handgun at pursuing officers, damaging the car's rear window, its windshield and a patrol car's headlight.
Officials said they found a .22 caliber magazine and bullets on the interstate after the pursuit; they did not find a gun. A witness to the chase reported hearing six to eight gunshots. An earlier attempt to lay a spike strip was thwarted when the officer heard shots coming from the oncoming vehicle, the documents said.
After crashing into a freeway barrier, the documents said the driver fled on foot. No serious injuries were reported.
Police said a third man was lying in the backseat during the chase.
A Salt Lake City woman reported that she was warming up the car, went inside, and then someone took off in it before the chase.
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