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WEST VALLEY CITY — One man has been arrested following a strange series of events that police say involved a home invasion and attempted child kidnapping.
Pini Talo, 29, was arrested for investigation of burglary, aggravated assault, attempted child kidnapping, two counts of theft, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and failing to stop at an officer's commands.
On Thursday, Talo was walking near an apartment complex, 4634 S. 4685 West, and came across an 11-year-old boy. He told the boy "he knows his dad and then gave him a beer," according to a Salt Lake County Jail report.
As Talo continued walking, he asked a tenant for money as the man was getting out of his truck, the report states. The man told him no. But as he walked into his apartment, Talo followed, according to the report.
"The victim told him several times that he didn't know him and to stop following him. The victim walked into his apartment and Pini followed him inside. While inside the residence Pini hit the victim with his back pack across his face, which had a bike lock in it. This knocked the victim out," the report states.
Talo then took a cell phone and went back to the man's truck, which still had the keys inside, according to the report, and drove off.
"He drove over the lawn of the apartment complex wrecking the passenger side of the truck into a tree," the report states.
Talo then stopped by the boy he had given a beer to and told him to get in, according to the jail report.
"The child told him no and ran," the report states.
Responding officers spotted Talo near 4800 West and 4600 South and pulled him over in a store parking lot.
"My backing officer arrived and I ordered the male to show me both of his hands out the window because it was said he fled with a gun. He placed both hands out the window and I could see something black in his right hand. I asked him what it was and he would not tell me," the officer wrote in his report.
At that point, Talo put the truck in drive again and fled.
"He was driving recklessly swerving in between several vehicles and passing on the right shoulder of the road trying to get away," according to the report.
As more officers arrived in the area, Talo abandoned the truck and was arrested a short time later.
Talo's lengthy criminal history includes convictions and arrests for theft, burglary and robbery, among other charges over the past decade.
