LOCAL NEWS
Eagle Mountain Resident Follows Porch Pirates, Helps Police Catch Suspect
EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah – A police chase that spanned several cities in Utah County all started with a resident following a driver who had just stolen his packages.
Eagle Mountian resident Tyler Stewart called 911 around 1:40 a.m. Sunday to alert police about the crime.
“The suspects were scoping the area out and going back, coordinating with the driver what they were going to do,” Stewart said.
A security camera captured the suspects stealing a trailer, pushing it through the street and eventually hooking it up to the car. They then targeted Stewart’s house.
“I take matters into my own hands to my own detriment.”
$5,000 worth of hats stolen was off one of the victim’s porch. Hear from him at 10:00. pic.twitter.com/NeHWctqG1h
— Ashley Moser (@AshleyMoser) January 26, 2021
“I look out my window and of the seven boxes I had on my porch, four of them were missing,” Stewart said.
Stewart jumped into his car and called 911 to give the dispatchers the suspect’s location.
“My 911 call was a total of 19 minutes long, and that’s how long it took for officers to finally show up because we went all over the place, he said.
At some point during the chase, Stewart said the car stopped and the passengers fled on foot. The suspect’s vehicle was involved in a hit-and-run crash.
“They had run a light and hit somebody, and so we had a crash we had to attend to as well,” said Sgt. Spencer Cannon with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.
Police then chased the suspect through Eagle Mountian, Cedar Fort and Fairview before the driver was finally arrested in Orem.
Police were able to return Stewart’s stolen packages, which contained 576 hats for a client worth nearly $5,000.
“A couple of them were run over and had tire tracks and things like that, but all the rest of them are still usable,” Tyler said.
Police were thankful no one was seriously injured in the chase, but they encouraged people not to chase after suspects.
“We do not recommend going after them because there’s too many bad things that can happen as a result,” Cannon said.