Police arrested a man Wednesday after a low-speed rush-hour chase through Salt Lake and Davis counties.
The chase ended about 6:30 p.m. on southbound I-15 about one-half mile north of the I-80 West exit.
Police said the driver was one of several people suspected of robbing a Logan couple visiting Salt Lake City to buy some stereo equipment. At 4:50 p.m. the Logan man and his girlfriend were in their car in the area of 400 East and 700 South when two cars pulled up. A man got out of one of the cars and demanded their money.
The Logan man refused, and what started as a strong-arm robbery evolved into an armed robbery and then a carjacking. Another man approached the car with a gun, demanding the money again, said Salt Lake City police detective Dwayne Baird.
A third man, who also had a gun, told the victims they would be relieved of their car. The third man left in a dark blue 2001 Volkswagen Passat, while another suspect left in the victims' car.
An officer spotted the Passat on I-15 and began pursuit. From the area of 600 North the driver proceeded to Redwood Road and headed north into Davis County as far as he could go. Near 1300 N. Redwood Road, officers spiked the tires on the left side of the car, Baird said.
So a high-speed chase with speeds as high as 80 mph turned into a low-speed chase as the car could only go as fast as 40 mph.
Near 1300 North, the man threw a gun out of his car. It was recovered by police, Baird said.
In West Bountiful, the car got back on I-15 and headed south. By that point officers from Salt Lake City police, Utah Highway Patrol and the Davis County Sheriff's Office were in pursuit, with news helicopters following from the air.
UHP troopers spiked the Passat's right tires near the Beck Street offramp, forcing the car to slow to 15 and then 10 mph. The driver brought the slowing car to a halt about one-half mile north of the I-80 West exit.
Patrol cars surrounded the Passat, while other pursuing vehicles, both marked and unmarked, stopped traffic for about 10 minutes. The Passat, which ended up with two flat right-side tires and no tires on the left side, had been reported stolen out of Bountiful.
The driver, Anousak Kaykeo, 27, was arrested without incident. He is a known gang member, Baird said. The victims don't appear to be gang members.
Police are still investigating the incident and trying to track down other participants in the robbery.
Baird said investigators don't know if the person selling the stereo equipment to the victims is tied to the robbers. But the robbers somehow knew the victims had money they could steal.
By 7:30 p.m. traffic was flowing normally through the downtown area.
E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com