Salt Lake City police recovers six stolen vehicles in two day operation

SALT LAKE CITY – Salt Lake City police said they recovered six stolen vehicles and issued 21 citations during their two-day stolen car operation.

According to the Salt Lake City police press release, the SLCPD Auto Theft Unit worked with multiple Salt Lake City agencies to locate wanted “car thieves, recover stolen vehicles, and to further in-progress investigations” on May 18 and 19.

Sgt. Bradley, who oversees the SLCPD Auto Theft Unit, said it’s not uncommon for a stolen car to be involved in other crimes.

“We’ve seen stolen cars used in drive-by shootings, homicides, and robberies,” Bradley said. “Knowing this, targeting specific car thieves and areas that are known to have stolen cars frequently can help us locate and arrest violent criminals before they can commit more crimes and victimize more people.”

In April 2022, Salt Lake City experienced a 27.8% decrease in stolen vehicles compared to the April monthly average over the past seven years.

This equates to approximately 41 fewer victims than average. #SLC #SaltLakeCity #SLCPD

— Salt Lake City Police (@slcpd) May 23, 2022

 

The press release states that Salt Lake City experienced a 27.8% dip in reported stolen vehicles compared to April’s monthly average in the last seven years. This equals to about 41 fewer victims.

One of the recovered cars was flagged for drug contamination after police found it was heavily used for drugs.

Insurance companies can claim a vehicle to be “unsafe” because of this.

“Auto theft in Salt Lake City isn’t like it is in movies,” Bradley explained. “Having a vehicle stolen can have a devastating impact on the victim and can have lasting collateral financial consequences. Unfortunately, the phrase ‘drive it like it’s stolen’ is all too real. We often see stolen cars with significant damage to the point they are no longer drivable.”

During the operation, police were searching for 33-year-old Caleb Sherman. He was suspected of having a stolen car and was a part of a sexual assault and carjacking investigation, according to police.

Police found Sherman on May 20, and he ran from them, but he was arrested without injuries or further incident.

According to arresting documents, officers found heroin, meth, marijuana, oxycodone pills, and other drug paraphernalia on Sherman.

Sherman was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for robbery, theft, use or possession of drug paraphernalia, and failing to stop at command law of enforcement.