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WOODS CROSS — One woman was taken into custody Monday after officials say she hit three police cars and tried to run over another officer during an extended pursuit in Davis County.
One Woods Cross police officer was taken to the University of Utah Medical Center in stable condition after the woman rammed his car head-on, police said. The officer was treated for pain in his neck and shoulder, according to Woods Cross Police Chief Chad Soffe.
Soffe said an officer responded to reports of a suspicious vehicle parked behind an IHOP about 3:30 p.m. Monday. After the officer spoke with the driver, Soffe said, the woman tried to run him over as he walked back to his car.
The officer avoided the woman’s vehicle, Soffe said. She then turned onto 800 West in Woods Cross and drove off at a high speed.
The officer began to follow the vehicle but slowed down and turned off his lights when he went into a school zone, even though the woman continued through it quickly. The officer lost the vehicle after it turned right on 1500 South, but he radioed its description to other officers.
Another Woods Cross officer spotted the car getting onto southbound I-15, Soffe said.
The woman’s car exited the highway on the industrial west side of North Salt Lake, the chief said, and the woman hit one Bountiful police vehicle. Police followed her car into an active construction site where a Maverik gas station is being built.
The woman eventually turned into a dead-end and was cornered. She proceeded to hit two additional Woods Cross police cars trying to escape the street, Soffe said. She hit the second police vehicle head-on, injuring the driver.
The woman then drove into Bountiful, where officers ended the pursuit because it was becoming increasingly dangerous. The woman, however, crashed into a civilian's vehicle at 1875 S. 400 West, according to a jail report.
A young mother and 15-month-old baby were in the civilian vehicle, according to the jail report. Soffe said no one was injured in that crash.
The woman being pursued got out of her car and ran away but was "tackled" by an officer a short time later, the jail report states. Police later discovered that when she was tackled, the woman was holding a 4-inch pocket knife in her hand.
The woman was later identified as Sarah Jean Garcia, 38, according to a jail report. Soffe did not identify the woman Monday because she gave a false name to arresting officers, he said.
Garcia was booked into the Davis County Jail for investigation of 15 offenses, including six counts of aggravated assault, failure to stop for a police officer, and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to the jail report.
Garcia had several active warrants, as well as a suspended driver's license, the jail report states.
A Woods Cross police officer wrote in the jail report that Garcia "showed no regard whatsoever for public safety or law enforcement."
Contributing: Jacob Klopfenstein, KSL.com
