Police track stolen vehicle to carwash with DPS helicopter
Jul 10, 2023, 4:59 PM | Updated: 5:02 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — Two men were placed into police custody thanks to the help of a Department of Public Safety helicopter that safely tracked a stolen vehicle.
On June 3, Salt Lake police told KSL TV officers located a stolen vehicle in Salt Lake City and followed the car to Magna. As officers followed the car, they called for the assistance of a DPS helicopter to follow the car without alerting the driver.
On Monday, DPS provided footage to KSL TV, showing the DPS helicopter locating the stolen vehicle on 4400 West and 4100 South in West Valley City and began following the car.
In the footage, the helicopter tracked the stolen car to Don’s Thrif-T Carwash on 3525 S. 3200 W.
The car drove into a bay in the car wash, where a man in a red shirt exited the car and met with a man in a white shirt. The red-shirt man appeared to hand the white-shirt man something before the two walked away.
In the footage, the man with the white shirt left the car wash and went into a nearby Wendy’s fast-food restaurant, while the man in the red shirt walked back to the stolen car.
Shortly after the two men separated, Salt Lake City Police Department officers arrested the red-shirt man at the car wash and Utah Highway Patrol officers detained the white-shirt man in the Wendy’s.
KSL TV inquired SLCPD about the identity of the suspects but declined to release the information because the case was referred to the District Attorney’s Office.
“In situations like this, this may mean a warrant has been or will be issued. The release of the person’s name may hinder our attempts to locate and take that person into custody,” SLCPD spokesman Brent Weisberg said.
