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Alex Cabrero ReportingLt. Rick Findlay, Salt Lake City Police: "It was quite fortuitous that events went the way they did."
A significant arrest following a kidnapping and high speed chase. A known gang-member is behind bars this afternoon. Police think he's connected to a shooting from a few months ago. How police found him is a very interesting story.
Police are glad to see this suspect off the streets. They've been looking for him for weeks, and he turned up in another agency's backyard.
For West Valley Police it's another arrest after another high-speed chase. For Salt Lake City police the man in the plastic suit is much more.
Lt. Rick Findlay, Salt Lake City Police: "It's a relief for our agency that this is one person that we can stop looking in every window of every car that we pass. Andre Thomas is a 21-year old gang member. Our homicide unit in Salt Lake City has been seeking the public's assistance and actively looking for him for a number of weeks."
Police believe Thomas was involved in a gang-related shooting that left one man dead at Terrace Hills Park. That was last November. Detectives do not think Thomas is the shooter; that person is still outstanding, but nonetheless, investigators consider this gang member a major catch.
Overnight, police say, Thomas broke into a home in the Avenues and kidnapped a man they knew.
Lt. Rick Findlay, Salt Lake City Police: "He's a person our police department has dealt with before in relation to gang crime, but I couldn't go so far as to say he is a gang member. He was not a random victim."
Police say Thomas and Goodman took in the victim's Cadillac with the victim inside. Early this morning, the suspects stopped at a 7-11 off Redwood Road and the victim managed to escape.
Lt. Mark Van RoosenDaal West Valley Police Dept.: "He left the car at that time, ran from the car, went to a nearby home and called 9-1-1 into our dispatch, and that's where we received the call."
Police spotted the stolen car and chased it. The suspects crashed into a sign on 2700 West and police say the driver, Andre Thomas, took off on foot and jumped into a canal. It took a K-9 dog to get him out.
Dripping in canal water was the man Salt Lake City police have been searching for for weeks. Originally police called Andre Thomas public enemy number one. Turns out someone misspoke, but make no mistake, Thomas has been on the Metro Gang Unit's radar for some time.
Now Thomas will face some major charges including aggravated burglary, kidnapping, car jacking, and fleeing from police.
The man with Thomas, Nathaniel Goodman will likely face similar charges. Police don't think Goodman had anything to do with the Terrace Hills Park shooting, but Goodman was already wanted for violating parole.
