This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake City police caught a man they suspect of robbing six downtown taxis at gunpoint overnight.
Six cab drivers reported being robbed at gunpoint from about 10:30 p.m. Friday to 1:23 a.m. Saturday, said Lt. Josh Scharman. Each cab driver gave similar descriptions of the suspect, who was popping up from downtown to as far east as Sugar House, Scharman said.
During the third robbery at 945 E. 2100 South, the suspect demanded money from the driver at gunpoint, but was dragged a short distance when the driver accelerated with the suspect holding onto the car door, Scharman said.
A targeted spree is nothing new — every once in a while, a criminal works an angle that he or she thinks would be easy to get away with, Scharman said. But the lieutenant had never heard of so many taxi robberies in one night.
Investigators eventually got a tip about a vehicle the suspect might be in — a white Mercedes. Just before 2 a.m., a Salt Lake City officer spotted a Mercedes matching the description, stopped it and found the 25-year-old suspect.
He was arrested and booked into Salt Lake County jail under suspicion of six counts of robbery. It turned out he also had a warrant for his arrest, though Scharman did not know what for.
"We're obviously very pleased that no one was injured," Scharman said, and expressed his gratitude toward the "very astute officer" who tracked the suspect down.
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