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WEST JORDAN -- A man arrested for running from troopers during a traffic stop in Murray is in critical condition after jumping from a moving patrol car on Bangerter Highway.
Troopers on Interstate 15 couldn't stop him, handcuffs and a seat belt couldn't stop him -- but a car going roughly 65 mph did.
"As he was running across those traffic lanes he was struck by a vehicle and ended up going through the windshield of the vehicle that hit him," said Sgt. Anthony Carrubba with the Utah Highway Patrol.
I'm guessing that the vehicle that hit him was probably just going 55 to 65 miles per hour. We don't have any reason to believe they were driving erratically in any way.
–Sgt. Anthony Carrubba
Before 21-year-old Nathan Hobbs ended up in the windshield of a car, he had twice fled from UHP troopers. The first was on I-15 when he was stopped for speeding around 11:30 Monday night. As the trooper approached the car, the man took off on foot.
Troopers tracked him down to his home in West Jordan about an hour later. The suspect was arrested and placed in the back of a cruiser with his hands cuffed behind his back and a seat belt in place.
"As our trooper was driving him over to the jail to book him on some charges, he was going northbound on Bangerter Highway behind me, by Jordan Landing, at which time the suspect jumped out of the vehicle while it was moving between 55 and 65 mph," Carrubba said.
Somehow Hobbs unbuckled himself and jumped out of the cruiser near 7500 South while still handcuffed. Troopers say he hit the ground, rolled, then popped back up.
He then climbed over the median, falling into south -- moving traffic and got up again, only to be hit by the car.
"I'm guessing that the vehicle that hit him was probably just going 55 to 65 miles per hour," Carrubba said. "We don't have any reason to believe they were driving erratically in any way. Just happened to be he was in the travel lane when they were coming southbound."
Carrubba says when Hobbs hit the vehicle's windshield, his feet flew up over the car and smashed down onto the hood.
"He was hit by the front of the vehicle, he got vaulted up into the air, and we believe that as he went through the windshield his feet actually kicked back and dented the top of the car," Carrubba said. "It looked like there were two foot imprints going through the top of the vehicle."
Carrubba says when Hobbs was pulled from the windshield, remarkably, he was still able to communicate with Troopers.
He was flown to University Medical Center in critical condition.
As for the driver of the car that hit him, troopers say she is OK. She suffered several small cuts and some glass flew in her hair and clothing.
There were also two teenage boys in the car with her, but they're OK. Troopers say more than anything, everyone in the car was just emotionally distraught about what happened.
"They seem to be fine, they seem more shook up emotionally than anything," Carrubba said.
Troopers say Hobbs was released from jail less than 48 hours ago and that the vehicle he was driving in Murray was likely stolen.
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