Man wanted for ‘serious crimes’ taken into custody after police shooting
Oct 17, 2024, 3:46 PM | Updated: 10:26 pm
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A traffic stop in Utah County quickly turned into police shooting a man who was wanted for several crimes on Thursday afternoon.
Saratoga Springs police chief Andrew Burton said the confrontation started after officers stopped a black Mercedes. Officers reported the driver wasn’t cooperating and provided false information.
A police source told KSL TV that police shot a person, and a person was taken into custody. (Avi Robledo, KSL TV)
When officers learned he was a suspect, in Burton’s words, “serious crimes” and was considered armed and dangerous, the traffic stop escalated. Two officers tried to get the man out of the Mercedes, shots were fired, and the man was injured.
“Something happened at a certain point, and shots were fired,” Burton said.
Officers said the man drove away, but the driver eventually left the car and ran into the neighborhood near Harvest Hill Boulevard and Providence Drive.
The black Mercedes that the man fled and abandoned during the chase. (KSL TV)
Around this time, Lori Sanderson encountered the man at her mother’s apartment door. She told KSL TV that he pounded at the door and demanded help.
“I came and answered it, and this man pushed his way in, and he just said, ‘I need help, I need help,'” Sanderson said. “And he turned around and he had a bullet hole in his back.”
Sanderson said she tried to get the man to leave the apartment and told him he needed first aid, but he wouldn’t listen.
“I was like, ‘You need to leave,’ and I kept trying to push him out, and he said to call his brother,” she said. “I said, ‘OK, just get out, you need to get out.'”
Lori Sanderson speaking about her experience with the man who was shot by officers. (KSL TV)
Burton said the man was eventually found and was taken into custody after officers contained the neighborhood and a Department of Public Safety helicopter responded to assist.
Burton reported that the suspect was injured and taken to the hospital for treatment but didn’t provide further details about the injuries or the crimes he was wanted for besides he was tied to a state investigation. A KSL TV police source said officers shot the man.
Officers taking the man into custody outside of the apartment complex. (Courtesy Jaycee)
Meanwhile, Sanderson is just grateful that no one else got hurt in this chase and it was resolved.
“I don’t know. It’s just scary. If he’d had a gun or if I hadn’t been here, who knows what could have happened.”
