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SALT LAKE CITY — A surprised woman found herself face-to-face Wednesday with a wanted man who had a long rap sheet.
Nicole Price said she was sanding a table in her backyard near 800 South and 400 East Wednesday afternoon when 25-year-old Zachary Wise came into view.
“He was really out of breath and he was like ‘can you help me, can you help me,’ and I was like ‘what, what’s going on?’” Price said. “He kept asking me if he could jump my fence. He asked me if he could come inside, and I was like, ‘no, I don’t think so.’”
At the time, Price was unaware of the dragnet on the street outside her house.
Salt Lake City Police Det. Cody Lougy said officers had spotted Wise holding a gun near 750 S. 300 East, when he ran into an apartment complex.
Lougy said Wise was a parole fugitive wanted for fleeing from police, vehicle burglary, vehicle theft, business burglaries and other property crimes.
Officers were on Wise’s trail starting around 3 p.m., when he and two others were reported as breaking into a car near 1200 South and 300 East, Lougy said.
When a man confronted the group, Lougy said there was a short altercation and Wise pulled a gun.
“He basically said, ‘Hey, do you want some of this?’” Lougy said.
He was polite. He was even verging on polite towards me.
–Nicole Price
Price said she hadn’t heard about that exchange and was scared after learning of it.
“Really!? I had no idea,” she said. “He was polite. He was even verging on polite towards me.”
Price said Wise ultimately squeezed between a gap in her fence before officers arrived.
He was taken into custody in a neighboring side yard moments later.
Lougy said police believe Wise dumped his gun at some point as he fled, which turned out to be fortunate.
“He knows he’s going back to prison, and so sometimes these people get very desperate – that’s the last place they want to go,” Lougy said.
Police don’t have good descriptions of the man and woman who were seen with Wise at the time of the alleged car burglary. Anyone with information is asked to call Salt Lake City Police at 801-799-3000.
