Driver takes shortest way home through Days of ’47 Parade
Jul 23, 2022, 12:18 PM | Updated: 1:26 pm
Spectators wave at the Tooele City "Sounds of Freedom" float during Saturday's Day of '47 Parade. (KSL TV)
(KSL TV)
SALT LAKE CITY —Salt Lake City police stopped a man driving his car in the Days of ’47 Parade because he did not belong there.
The man drove around a barrier and then joined the parade at 100 East 200 South Saturday morning as he tried to get home.
No one was injured and the parade was not significantly interrupted Salt Lake Police said in a statement.
Police identified the driver as John Kotun.
The statement said it all started when Kotun was on foot when he asked officers if could just go around road closures that were set up on the route to block traffic. The officers told him he could not and that he should park nearby and walk home.
Kotun reportedly drove off in his car. The officers decided they should find a better vantage point to watch the parade.
They then spotted Kotun again trying to drive around the closure but they got to him quickly and told him he could not join the parade route.
The statement said, “Shortly after turning the man around for a second time, the officer saw the man had successfully gotten through an opening where parade staff and parade equipment was set up. The man was driving slowly on the parade route.”
Officers quickly started waving him down to get him to stop but instead, he slowly accelerated.
We are aware of video showing a car driving on the Days of 47 parade route. Officers quickly and safely detained the driver. There were no injuries. We are still investigating the reason he drove around a barrier. Right now, it does not appear targeted. #slc #slcpd #saltlakecity pic.twitter.com/XSdo108ENE
— Salt Lake City Police (@slcpd) July 23, 2022
“Due to the potential danger, officers opened the car door and successfully put the car in park and got the driver out without further incident,” the statement said.
Kotun still kept telling officers that he lived nearby and he was trying to get home. Officers confirmed he lived in the area.
He later told officers that he shouldn’t have driven onto the parade route.
Police released him but not before they gave him a citation for one count of failing to obey a traffic control device and one count of unlawfully driving left of center.
