Driver shot after car hits deputy in Spanish Fork

SPANISH FORK — A Utah County sheriff's deputy shot the driver of a car that hit another deputy and ran over his foot in Spanish Fork early Monday morning, according to the sheriff's office.

Just after midnight, a Spanish Fork police officer located a car that had fled from police Sunday afternoon, Utah County sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon said in a press release. The officer drove around the block and then the car was gone.

Police and deputies searched for the car and found it just before 1 a.m. at 20 E. Center Street. Officers tried to keep the car from moving but it drove away, running over a deputy's foot and hitting him. The impact sent him onto the hood of the car and into the windshield, shattering the windshield, Cannon said.

Another deputy fired at least one shot and hit the car's driver in the shoulder and face. The driver, identified as Wade Willis, 38, from Springville, was taken to Mountain View Hospital in Payson then flown to Utah Valley Hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries.

The deputy who was hit received minor injuries and is resting at home, Cannon said.

Investigators say police in Lehi made a traffic stop Sunday afternoon on the car involved in the Monday morning incident. A passenger got into the driver's seat and drove away, Cannon said. A short time later, American Fork police located the car and pursued it until they terminated the pursuit.

Police believe Willis was driving the car during the Sunday afternoon incidents but have not confirmed that.

Contributing: Caitlin Burchill, KSL TV

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