Police video shows suspect hitting officers with car while trying to escape
Jun 3, 2018, 10:20 PM | Updated: Jun 4, 2018, 9:48 am
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah – New police body cam video shows how a situation in West Valley City nearly got out of control. Two officers were hurt when two suspects in a car tried to get away.
It started when several police officers approached a suspicious car in a church parking lot at 4250 South 4800 West on the morning of May 3. According to a probable cause statement, two people were passed out inside the vehicle. When officers knocked on the window, that’s when the trouble began.
On the video, officers are seen pointing guns at the suspects, Andrew Lucero and Joelle Saldivar, and demanding that Lucero turn off the car. Instead of turning off the car, Lucero is seen putting it in reverse and hitting the gas. The car’s door hit one of the officers, throwing him into a patrol car. According to a police report, Lucero continued to back up, ramming another patrol car and injuring a second officer.
It’s clear from the video that police didn’t know what the suspects would do next. They are heard yelling at Lucero to turn off the car and get out.
The video shows Lucero does get out of the car, but then he takes off running. Officers tackled him about 400 feet away.
Neither officer was seriously hurt and only suffered bruises and cuts.
Lucero and Saldivar were both taken to jail. Lucero is facing charges of assault on a peace officer, along with drug, weapons and identity theft-related charges. A police report also says he was found with someone else’s driver’s license, social security car and a bank card. Police say in addition, more than a hundred sets of keys, a handgun, a baton and a set of brass knuckles were found in Lucero’s vehicle.
