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When he woke up in the middle of the night to hear somebody stealing a car, a California man visiting his brother in Tooele County knew the car being started was his. He also saw it being driven away and he decided to chase them.
David Farnsworth said he had an after-market exhaust on his car, so when it was started, he knew the sound right away. "I looked out the window to make sure I wasn't dreaming," he said.
He wasn't dreaming, but he sure was having a nightmare. "Maybe they would've got away, and I would have no idea where my car went," Farnsworth said.
He got into his brother's truck to chase them, but he couldn't see where his car went. However, he noticed people in another car across the street. Farnsworth figured those guys were friends of whoever had just taken off in his car, and the chase was on.
"The guy was running stoplights and just driving reckless. I was just on his tail making sure I didn't lose him," Farnsworth said.
The chase started in a Stansbury Park neighborhood but eventually went into Tooele, where Farnsworth was able to get a deputy's attention.
"I rolled down my window and was pointing at the car ahead of me," Farnsworth said.
Eventually, the deputy was able to get to the car because it got a flat tire. But as he approached it, the bad guy in Farnsworth's stolen car came down the road and almost hit the deputy.
"The deputy had to dive out of the way, and the two individuals in the first car jumped into the second car," Tooele County Sheriff Frank Park said.
That led to another chase where a second deputy used spike strips to stop them. The bad guys tried running but were caught.
Twenty-year-old Jason Stout of West Jordan was arrested, along with a juvenile male and female. He's going to face an attempted homicide charge for almost hitting a deputy.
"I would've just told them, ‘Hey man, I just want my car back and nothing else,'" Farnsworth said.
It turns out the car Farnsworth was chasing was also stolen from Layton. He said his car is now totaled and isn't worth fixing, especially because he only had liability insurance on it. He's just happy he helped catch those who stole it.
E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com
