Driver arrested after RV rammed police car and hit four others, police say

WEST VALLY CITY — The driver of a recreational vehicle was arrested on Tuesday after police said he rammed a police car and crashed into four others while fleeing from police.

The driver was identified as James Daniel Harper, 39. Police found Harper is an alcohol-restricted driver whose driver’s license had been revoked. According to the arrest document, Harper was required to have an ignition interlock device installed in the vehicle before he was to operate it, and the RV did not.

At approximately 1:30 p.m., an officer attempted to pull the RV over while driving in Kearns. The officer, Situli Tafili with the Unified Police Department, said the RV pulled over and stopped ahead of his police cruiser.

“As I approached on the passenger side, the RV reversed and rammed my police cruiser and fled the scene,” Tafili wrote in the arrest document.

Tafili then pursued the RV, and during the chase, it crashed into four separate cars, according to the document. It finally stopped near 4100 South and Bangerter Highway, in the middle of the road on the median.

Pictures of the stopped van seemed to show a van that crashed and landed on its side before the RV stopped.

Harper was booked into Salt Lake County Jail on a failure to stop at the command of police charge, a third-degree felony; five counts of failure to remain at an accident involving injury, class B misdemeanors; and multiple misdemeanor charges for driving on a revoked license, driving while alcohol restricted, and failing to install an ignition interlock device.

Police did not specify the injuries of any of the drivers or potential passengers that Harper may have injured, nor did they comment on any possible injuries that Tafili sustained.