What started as a routine traffic stop turned into an intense and often dangerous high-speed chase that ended with the arrest of two men who had been shot by deputy sheriffs.
The ordeal began when a Salt Lake County deputy tried to stop a car at the intersection of 3900 South and 900 East, at 12:59 a.m. Thursday."The suspect refused to stop . . . and basically fled," said sheriff's Sgt. Rod Norton. The deputies chased the car at various speeds through a Granite Park neighborhood.
The fleeing car drove on top of a fire hydrant at 556 E. 3500 South at 1:02 a.m., and two deputies used their patrol cars to try and keep the car from leaving, Norton said.
But instead of surrendering, the driver began to ram the patrol cars with his damaged vehicle, Norton said. One of the deputies, crouched behind the open door of his patrol car, believed the driver was heading toward him and fired several shots at the approaching car, Norton said.
Two deputies and one reserve deputy were on the scene when the driver started ramming police cars, Norton said, and all three fired shots at the vehicle.
The persistent driver man-euvered his vehicle around the patrol cars and once again started a high-speed chase. The driver sped through the parking lot of Woodland Plaza, 4200 S. 700 East, and then drove south in the northbound lanes of 700 East, Norton said.
A deputy attempted to prevent the fleeing car from crossing the median, and the vehicle, which had been traveling at speeds ranging from 80 to 100 miles per hour, slowed down. The passenger "bailed out" of the car and was immediately arrested by deputies, Norton said.
Officials believe the passenger jumped out of the car so he could get medical help for a gunshot wound in his chest.
The driver quickly did a U-turn and headed northbound in the southbound lanes of 700 East. Deputies followed him as he traveled back to the same neighborhood where the shooting took place.
The man drove to a dead-end street, Scott Avenue, parked his car in the last driveway on the street, got out of the car and ran from deputies, who chased and arrested him, Norton said.
The driver had been shot once in the arm, also apparently in the earlier confrontation with deputies.
Wayne Cheney, 32, Millcreek, believed to the passenger, was taken to LDS Hospital where he was listed in serious condition. Chet DeMill, 31, Salt Lake City, believed to be the driver, was taken to St. Mark's Hospital, where he is in good condition.
All three officers who fired were placed on administrative leave, and the sheriff's office won't release their identities until they are debriefed later Thursday afternoon, Norton said.
Norton said deputies aren't sure why the men fled police, although one of the men has a history of evading police officers.