The voice didn't sound familiar, and the words didn't make sense.
"The first thing we heard was a real raspy voice saying he was in control of the cab, and he was going to hurt our driver," said City Cab manager Bruce Jackson.That was the beginning of a dramatic high-speed chase during rush-hour traffic about 5:20 p.m. Thursday. Despite his threats, it was the man with the raspy voice who was the only person hurt in the chase.
The 42-year-old man was driving a stolen cab at speeds of about 30 to 35 mph - often into oncoming traffic - to elude police who wanted to question him in connection with a burglary and vandalism case.
The ordeal began a few minutes earlier in a West Salt Lake neighborhood as two Salt Lake police officers investigated a burglary and vandalism at the man's cousin's house, near 1000 South and 800 West.
Police were investigating whether the man, who'd recently been kicked out of his cousin's house, had tried to force his way into the home and damaged some property, said Salt Lake Police Lt. Dennis Tueller.
When officers Stuart Johnson and James Coleman arrived at the house, the man wasn't there. After talking to witnesses, someone told police they'd seen him get into a cab.
"They spotted (the suspect) in the back seat of the cab," Tueller said. The officers stopped the cab at 850 W. 400 South.
"The driver immediately jumped out of the cab and ran back to police and said, `This guy is acting crazy,' " Tueller explained. "I know the cab driver was scared of this individual."
Officers, who thought the man in the cab might be armed, approached the car and tried to talk to him. But the man jumped from the back seat into the driver's seat and drove away in the cab, which the driver had left running when he jumped out.
That's when Jackson heard the unfamiliar voice on the radio.
"He was saying `This is it; this is the big one,' " Jackson recalled. "We thought, `Oh my goodness, we're going to lose a cab driver.' "
The cab driver wasn't injured, and police immediately began chasing the vehicle through crowded downtown streets.
Tueller said the man driving the cab deliberately drove on the wrong side of the street as he headed eastbound on 400 South. A police van trying to keep commuters out of the path of the speeding cab was hit in the intersection of State Street and 400 South.
The cab led police along 400 South and then turned south on 200 East. The driver tried to hit a Salt Lake County deputy sheriff's patrol car head-on, Tueller said, but the deputy was able to avoid a collision.
The driver of the stolen cab did manage to hit a small pickup truck head-on a few feet later. Although he was injured and the cab was severely damaged, the suspect tried to back away from the accident.
Police swarmed onto the scene, which happened to be right in between the Metropolitan Hall of Justice (where the jail is housed) and the Salt Lake City/County building.
Even Salt Lake Police Chief Ruben Ortega, who happened to be at a meeting in the city building, came outside to survey the accident.
The suspect was taken to LDS Hospital for injuries sustained in a head-on collision that marked the end of the chase. No one else was injured.
The suspect yelled and screamed incoherently as rescue workers pulled him from the wreckage and loaded him into an ambulance.
The driver of the wrecked truck and officials from City Cab watched as police cleaned up the scene.
"We're just glad our driver's okay," Jackson said.
The man was treated and released for minor injuries and booked into jail for investigation of aggravated assault of a police officer, aggravated assault and vehicle theft.