Salt Lake Police Detective Don Buckholts stood in his torn and muddy clothing, studying the wrecked Subaru that had stopped against a retaining wall near 200 South and 200 East.
"I was leaning on the car like this," he said, showing how he shifted himself against the vehicle to question the two youths inside. "And when they moved I grabbed hold of the car and hung onto it . . . They dragged me for about a block."The incident started shortly before noon Thursday when the plainclothes detective noticed two male juveniles apparently fighting with someone at East High School, 840 S. 1300 East. Buckholts, who is stationed at the school, went to investigate, and the youths got in their car.
When he approached the car and asked for identification, the youths had none. Suddenly, Buckholts' life was in danger.
"They gun it and take off . . . about as fast as they could go . . . He drags me from Eighth South to Ninth South." As they sped south on 1300 East, Buckholts was asking them to stop.
At last the car slowed "'till about 10 miles per hour, and then I let go," he said. He tumbled to the street, ripping his clothing.
His shoes looked like they had been in an explosion, they were so frayed from dragging on the street. His shirt and pants were muddy and torn, and his knee was bleeding from a scrape.
"There's some damage to my shoulder and knee," he said. His elbow also hurt, and "the back of my head got dinged when I hit the pavement."
As soon as he got to his feet, Buckholts used his police radio to call in a description of the car, his hoarse voice crackling over the airwaves.
Shortly afterward, an officer downtown saw the buff-colored station wagon careening west on 200 South.
"One of our officers spotted them when they went by at Second South and Second East - at about 50 miles per hour," said Lt. Scott Atkinson.
The officer prepared to make a traffic stop, but before he could go after the car, it ran a red light and hit another vehicle at the intersection.
Continuing west, the Subaru slammed into a fire hydrant, which punched a hole in the passenger's door. It spun around and careened to the other side of the road, where it hit the retaining wall and came to a stop.
The two occupants fled, and the officer who had seen the accident chased them on foot. When the youths split up, he managed to catch the passenger, but the driver escaped. As of Friday morning, he had not been arrested.
The passenger, 18, a Park City resident, sat in a police car while officers inspected the Subaru. He was booked into jail for investigation of aggravated assault.
Atkinson said the car's owner had reported that it was stolen in Park City. A gun was discovered in a zippered bag inside it.
"The gun was stolen at the same time," Atkinson said. "We found the gun under the seat . . . I don't even know if the kids knew there was a gun in there."