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Team coverageA paperwork mistake led to the release of a dangerous man from the Salt Lake County Jail. Jared Lance led police on several chases in the past month and was wanted for kidnapping and drug charges.
Lance was released July 23 from jail, and police believe he is at one of the residences he's been found at before. Police are just waiting for a warrant to go through and then they'll look for Lance. Salt Lake County sheriff's deputy Shane Manwaring says, "We've got some information on the address he gave us when he was booked into jail and some previous addresses where we've found him before, and that'll be the starting point."
In recent weeks, Lance has led police on two different chases. The last one happened in mid-July. Salt Lake County deputies boxed him in near 700 East and 5600 South, but he rammed a police car and took off. A canine later bit him.
Lance was booked into Salt Lake County Jail on July 16, but no formal charges were ever filed. The Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office says the officer who's car was rammed and the gang unit thought the other agency had taken care of it.
Manwaring says, "It comes down to a situation where everyone is human, and in this case, two agencies that work very well together just thought the other one was taking care of the paperwork."
Salt Lake County sheriff's Lt. Paul Jaroscak says this can happen when multiple police agencies are involved.
"Sometimes you just get confused as to who's supposed to file the paperwork. And I think that's what it is. We wish these things didn't happen, but they do," he said.
The sheriff's office says this type of mistake is rare and 99 percent of the time, they get it right. As for the jail, officers say they did nothing wrong. Manwaring said, "The jail did exactly what they are supposed to do. They took and released a person that hadn't been ... charges had not been filed on him, and he still has rights as a person that lives in the United States of America."
Now that he's been released, officers are filing charges for the stolen vehicle and the chase.
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