This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Good Samaritan who stopped to help a motorist stopped in the middle of an intersection Saturday night ended up being dragged several feet, police reported.
Edwin Tanner saw the car stalled in the middle of the intersection at 2300 East and 3300 South and went to help. He opened the driver side door and found a 57-year-old man passed out in the driver's seat.
The car was still running, and the man's foot was on the gas pedal. Other bystanders got out of their cars and helped to push the car as Tanner put the car in neutral and began to steer the vehicle.
The man awoke suddenly and appeared to panic, said Detective Shane Manwaring of the Unified Police Department. The man slammed his foot on the accelerator, but the car didn't move because it was in neutral.
But before Tanner was able to remove himself from the car, the man put the car in drive and drove off. He ended up dragging Tanner about 10 feet before he was able to extract himself from the car.
The man ended up going south on 2000 East, Manwaring said, and several cars followed him and called 911. Officers were able to locate the man after he apparently hit a pole and came to a stop again. An officer in his police truck then pulled up behind the man's car, essentially pinning him in.
The officer approached the man, and again he awoke and panicked, Manwaring said. This time, the man threw the car into reverse and twice hit the officer's truck before speeding off. Another officer arrived at that point and gave chase. He was able to employ a PIT (Pursuit Intervention Technique) maneuver that succeeded in spinning the man's car, sending it through a cinder block fence into a backyard.
Two officers then approached the man, and twice deployed a Taser to get him out of the vehicle. Paramedics took the man to St. Mark's Hospital, where doctors admitted him for severe alcohol poisoning.
Officers left him under the watch of hospital security, but for unknown reasons the man was released before police were called, Manwaring said.
However, they were able to track him down and arrest him.
The man has an alcohol-related criminal history, Manwaring said.
Tanner suffered few injuries, and was able to carry out his duties as a bishop for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Sunday, Manwaring said.
Manwaring praised Tanner for stopping to help after several other motorists simply went around the car.
"I don't know if I would have done anything differently," Manwaring said, adding that he may have turned off the car's ignition. "I don't think what [Tanner] did was inappropriate. He was on the right track. This guy was just too intoxicated to realize or understand what he was doing."
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