Bountiful police arrest teen believed to have kidnapped 12-year-old girl
Nov 17, 2024, 8:26 AM | Updated: Nov 19, 2024, 1:02 pm
Editors Note: This story was initially published including information about multiple suspects police were searching for. Because the suspects were incorrectly tagged by police in this case, it was removed. On Monday, police confirmed the suspect who was arrested is under the age of 18 and therefore, no further identifying information will be released.
BOUNTIFUL — A man suspected of abducting a 12-year-old girl and fleeing from police is in custody after crashing into a patrol car Sunday morning.
According to Lt. Andrew Smith with the Bountiful Police Department, the girl left her home and got into a man’s car in his 20s, whom she met on social media at approximately 12:21 a.m.
Smith said that the girl’s family noticed she had been gone for a while, and some of those family members went outside and saw a car they weren’t familiar with in their driveway.
“They knocked on the window and inquired if their daughter was inside the car, at which point a Hispanic male jumped into the driver’s seat of the car, and the car fled the area,” Smith said.
#Utah #AMBERAlert has been canceled Utah Department Of Public Safety: T559FD (UT), white Chevrolet Camaro Ss. Suspect #1 is Juan Martinez Brito who is 5'10" 180 lbs black hair black eyes. Check local media or see https://t.co/9Ygk40dLMR @AMBERAlert
— Utah Public Safety (@UtahDPS) November 17, 2024
Smith said the family called police at approximately 9 a.m. after the car returned to their home. According to police, when officers arrived, the man had fled in a 2011 white Chevrolet Camaro with the girl inside. The car had no visible license plate. However, it was identifiable by its black hood and a social media sticker on the car.
High-speed chase
Police reported that a high-speed pursuit of the vehicle had begun. Smith said the chase went onto southbound Interstate 15, then on Interstate 215 until the suspect’s car lost control and hit the back of a Woods Cross police car on the Legacy Highway overpass.
Following this, the suspect was taken into police custody without incident. Police said Monday the suspect was under the age of 18, and was therefore booked into Farmington Bay Youth Detention Center on “several charges.” No further information about the suspect is being released, police said.
The car, which police said was also carrying a Glock 17, belonged to a family member of the suspect.
Smith said the Woods Cross officer was sent to the hospital with minor injuries. The officer was getting ready to lay down spike strips when the suspect’s car crashed into them.
The 12-year-old girl was taken to a local hospital for examination but sustained no injuries during the accident, according to police. Investigators are looking into what happened during the nine hours the girl was missing.
“You don’t know if you’re going to see your child again. Your child has just been taken by somebody you don’t know, and they’re gone for a period of time you can only imagine what those parents are going through and imagining what their daughter is going through,” Smith said.
The department asked anyone with information to call police at (801)298-6000 or dial 911.
Contributing: Michael Houck and Mary Culbertson, KSL TV
This story is breaking and may be updated.
