WOODS CROSS — A Taylorsville man was arrested Friday after police say he fled from officers, crashed into a canal in Woods Cross and then tried to avoid capture by swimming across the canal and hiding in the marsh.
Luis Alberto Gomez-Lopez, 26, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail just before 2 a.m. for failing to stop for police, failing to stop at the command of law enforcement and two counts of drug distribution.
The incident began about 10 p.m. Thursday when Salt Lake police received a report of shots fired in the area of 700 West and 140 North. As of Friday morning, no injuries or damage was reported.
A short time later, an officer spotted a vehicle that matched the description of one that had been seen near the area where the shots had been fired. When the officer attempted to pull the car over, it sped off, according to a police affidavit.
The chase ended when the vehicle crashed into a canal in Woods Cross near 1600 West and 1600 North. The driver got out and swam across the canal in an attempt to hide, police said. A police K-9 was brought to the area and found Gomez-Lopez hiding.
After he was placed under arrest, investigators found distributable amounts of methamphetamine and heroin in the wrecked car as well as cash that Gomez-Lopez admitted was partly proceeds from his drug sales, the affidavit states.
Police said Friday they were still investigating whether Gomez-Lopez was involved in the reports of shots being fired.
According to court records, he was convicted of drug distribution in 2017 and placed on probation lieu of a suspended prison sentence. Likewise, he was convicted of drug distribution in 2016, as well as several misdemeanor drug possession charges over the past several years.
Police say the shots fired call was separate from another report of shots being fired about an hour earlier in almost the same area.
Just before 9 p.m., Salt Lake officers heard four gunshots in the area of 300 North and 700 West. An officer in the area noticed a pickup truck driving away with multiple people trying to hide in the bed, according to a police affidavit.
The truck was stopped and four people were detained. Inside the truck, police found two guns, including a revolver near the passenger seat with four spent shell casings, the report states.
Anthony Wayne Bettcher, 25, admitted firing four shots out the window while driving, striking a car parked on the street, according to the affidavit. He was arrested for investigation of four counts of discharge of a firearm, theft of a firearm and possession of a firearm by a restricted person.
Bettcher is on both federal probation and state parole, according to police.