Police Identify Suspect From Overnight Crime Spree
Jan 9, 2020, 1:27 PM | Updated: 1:47 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – A 38-year-old man was arrested and booked into jail after an alleged crime spree that began with a robbery at a 7-Eleven convenience store and spread across multiple cities in Salt Lake County, according to police.
Salt Lake City police identified the suspect as Gary Moore and said in addition to the alleged robbery, they believe Moore drove through Liberty Park and ran over some property, which then struck a person.
That person was transported to an area hospital with minor injuries.
KSL TV spoke to the 7-Eleven clerk who described how the incident started.
“He threatened me too, that he was gonna shoot me and stuff like that,” said Sanjeev Singh, who was working the overnight shift at the 7-Eleven at 309 East 400 South in Salt Lake City.
He said he had a feeling things were not right when a man walked in just after midnight on Thursday.
“He grabbed the doughnuts I thought he was gonna pay for it he walked in he showed me the doughnuts and then he walked out with that,” Singh said.
Singh followed after the man, asking him to pay for the items. But then he took matters into his own hands.
“I just, like, grabbed the bat and then I walked out,” Singh said. “He just got into the car but I didn’t let him run or let him start the car. I just opened his window and then I hit him with the bat on his knees and then on his hand.”
Surveillance video, showed the driver backing out of the parking spot before backing in around Singh before eventually taking off with the back hatch of his vehicle open.
Police said about a half-hour after that incident, another call came in from a Smith’s Marketplace.
“That matched the suspect description – matched the suspect vehicle where that individual threatened some other people at the Smith’s Marketplace, pointed a taser at them (and) also stated that he had a handgun,” said Lieutenant Alma Sweeny with the Salt Lake City Police Department.
Sweeny said after the incident at the Smith’s, a third 911 call came in from Liberty Park describing a similar vehicle hitting a picnic table that then struck someone and sent them to the hospital with minor injuries.
“That individual looked like he was trying to run over some people in the park,” Sweeny said.
The driver took off again but didn’t get far before an officer spotted the Jeep, which led to a high-speed chase and police using pursuit techniques to stop Moore in Cottonwood Heights.
Police told KSL Moore was in a stolen Jeep and admitted to taking drugs earlier. They also found a taser and other evidence in the Jeep, but no handgun.
Moore was then booked into the Salt Lake County Jail.
