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MIDVALE — A Unified police officer had to dive over the hood of his vehicle Sunday to avoid being run over by a driver who investigators say was aiming for him.
About 11:35 p.m., an officer in the area of 7200 South and State Street spotted a Jeep that matched the description of one that was stolen from the Kearns area about three hours earlier.
"As he's following the vehicle, he's running the plate and it comes back as the stolen Jeep," Unified Police Lt. Justin Hoyal said.
As the vehicle turned into the Brighton Place Apartments, near 50 West and 6925 South, the officer turned on his red and blue lights and attempted to pull the vehicle over.
"The car initially pulls over. The passenger immediately jumps out of the car. The driver takes off," Hoyal said.
The officer got out of his vehicle and drew his gun out of his holster. He was standing by the driver's side door of his patrol car about to confront the passenger who was on the sidewalk, when the Jeep driver performed a U-turn and came straight at the officer, Hoyal said.
"He actually had to jump over the hood of the police car to avoid being hit," Hoyal said.
The officer was uninjured. Backup officers were called to set up a containment of the area. They eventually found the Jeep abandoned behind a strip mall near 6900 S. State. The passenger who jumped out was questioned and later released, Hoyal said.
Anyone with information on the driver can call police at 801-743-7000.
