This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A burglary suspect managed to escape Sunset officers Sunday in a stolen police SUV but was captured several hours later in Ogden.
Nathan Ward, 26, was first arrested around 1 p.m. in Sunset during a burglary investigation, according to Sunset Police Chief Ken Eborn. Ward escaped, running down the street with his hands cuffed behind his back, while the arresting officer was on the phone. However, police quickly recaptured Ward and placed him in a gray, unmarked Dodge Durango.
Ward asked to stop by his home so he could tell his mom he was going to jail. The officer complied, but when he went to knock on the home's front door, Ward climbed over the Durango's seats, "shimmied" his hands out from behind his back and drove away.
The SUV is not a patrol vehicle and therefore lacked a cage between the front and back seats, making it easier for Ward to slide into the driver's seat, Eborn said.
Police found the Durango abandoned in Ogden after Ward called his mother and told her where he was.
Ward was arrested just before 6 p.m. following a brief foot pursuit. Eborn said Ward would be booked into jail on suspicion of burglary, escape from custody and car theft.
Ward's criminal history goes back to 2007, according to court records. In early 2010 he pleaded guilty to attempted theft, a third-degree felony; later that year, he pleaded guilty again, this time to a pair of misdemeanors for using a dangerous weapon in a fight.