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Team coverage A North Salt Lake police officer is in critical condition after an early morning high speed chase. The chase began when a Bountiful police officer attempted to stop 30-year-old William Fisher, who was driving a stolen vehicle. It ended when both Fisher and the officer called to help him crashed at two separate locations.
Lt. Randy Pickett, with the Bountiful Police Department said, "When they leave home in the morning they never know if they are going to make it back or not by just the things that they have to face every day.
The injured police officer is 30-year-old Charles Skinner. He is currently in critical condition. He suffered major head trauma in the accident and has been in surgery all morning.
Skinner was part of the chase that started just before 4:00 this morning at the Smith's at 2399 S. Main St. A Bountiful police officer spotted a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot and called it in. The car came back stolen out of Salt Lake County.
As the officer called for backup, the car took off. The driver, William Fisher, led police on a chase that went on and off I-15 into North Salt Lake and back up to Bountiful.
As the chase headed south on Highway 89, officer Skinner lost control of the vehicle and smashed into a sign outside of Kitty Pappas Steak House. Pickett said, "He wasn't trying to do any type of maneuvers; he was just involved in the chase, and something happened to cause him to lose control."
Pickett says initially it appears Skinner's car lost traction on an area of roadway that had just been resurfaced and that water on the road from a rainstorm may have contributed to the crash. He says Skinner's car was traveling at about 60 to 70 miles an hour when it crashed.
The chase continued on I-15, but when the suspect attempted to take the 900 W. exit, he rolled the car, and it ended there.
Fisher was transported to the hospital with minor injuries. He has since been turned over to the Department of Corrections.
Police tells us Fisher was wanted on three other felony warrants, two of them for being in possession of stolen property, and the third involved a stolen vehicle.
Officer Skinner was transported by helicopter to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray. We are told that he just came out of surgery, but he will stay medically sedated and will need more surgery in the near future.
The family of officer Skinner said, through a press release, that they would like to express their appreciation for the love, support and concern offered by the law enforcement community, as well as the citizens of the community.
Officer Skinner and his wife have three-week-old twins, a boy and a girl.
An account has been opened at Zions Bank in officer Skinner's name if members of the community would like to make donations toward his care and family.
E-mail: spark@ksl.com
E-mail: aadams@ksl.com
E-mail: mgiauque@ksl.com
