A man who would have gotten a simple traffic citation if he had pulled over ended up leading police on a wild chase, hit an officer's patrol car and was booked into jail for investigation of two felonies.
Just before 2 a.m. Thursday West Valley police attempted to pull over a car for an improper lane violation near 3800 South and 4200 West, said West Valley police Capt. Tom McLachlan.
The car, which was just pulling into a driveway, immediately drove across the front lawn of the house and sped away, McLachlan said.
After leading officers through several residential areas, the fleeing car drove into a cul-de-sac near 3500 South and 1500 West. To escape, the driver turned around and deliberately hit an oncoming police car and drove across another yard to get away, McLachlan said.
The average speeds of the chase were between 40 to 60 mph although it once hit 75 mph, he said.
The man abandoned his car in another cul-de-sac about 15 minutes after the chase began and took off running. He was captured by one of the police dogs.
The driver was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of fleeing in a car, fleeing on foot, aggravated assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.