PROVO — After eluding capture inside a Spanish Fork store, a man who police believe is forging checks forced his way into a car occupied by a teenage girl and an elderly woman.
Then, according to police, the man drove to Provo, where he exited the vehicle and fled on foot. The women, who were unharmed in the incident, remained in the car.
Police were still searching for a white male, who appeared to be about 25, 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds. He was wearing dark pants and was bare chested. He had been wearing a dark shirt but shed it after it was ripped in a struggle with an officer.
The man was the subject of a police sting arranged Wednesday when he allegedly forged a check to pay for contact lenses at ShopKo's optical center.
A store employee called police Friday afternoon when the man phoned ahead to see if the contacts were ready, and an undercover Spanish Fork police officer was waiting for the man when he arrived at the store at about 12:45 p.m.
When the officer attempted to arrest the man, he assaulted the officer, said Spanish Fork Police Lt. Carl Johnston. The officer nearly tore the shirt off the man, who then fled, running out of the store and across I-15, dodging traffic.
While police dogs searched for the man, investigators located his vehicle in the parking lot. They determined that the white Jeep Cherokee had been reported stolen in Iowa. They also found counterfeit checks and information about the man's identity, Johnston said. A computer search found that he is wanted for forgery in another state, Johnston said. The man returned to the parking lot at about 3:30 p.m., again running across I-15, but when he saw that his vehicle was gone and that police were waiting for him, he jumped into the sedan with the two females.
The driver was inside the store and had left the car running. The man demanded that the girl and woman leave the car, but they refused.
"He took them on a ride to Provo," Johnston said.
They exited in the East Bay area and the man abandoned the car in the parking lot of the hotel near the Provo Town Centre mall. Law officers set up a perimeter and contacted motels and mall security.
Johnston said police would not release the fugitive's name until it was confirmed.
The two women, who are from southern Utah and were visiting relatives in Spanish Fork, were taken to the Spanish Fork Police Department for interviews. Their identities were not released.
E-mail: twalch@desnews.com