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OREM — After a Friday officer-involved shooting in Orem led to confusion and calls for police to provide more information, authorities on Wednesday attempted to clarify the details.
The situation began about 6:20 p.m. Friday near 1153 N. State Street in Orem when an owner of Leiva Motors saw a pickup truck back into a Jeep Wrangler that was for sale in the lot.
The owner tried to get the driver, later identified as 27-year-old Samantha Bencomo, to stop, but the truck drove away and the owner began following it in his own car, according to a jail report. He told police he saw the truck run into a wall near 400 W. 920 North and then pull into a gas station at 1091 N. State Street.
At that point, the car lot owner flagged down a police officer, who had also pulled into the gas station. The officer tried to get Bencomo to stop, but she drove away southbound on State Street.
Another officer then came across Bencomo’s truck, which was in a left-turn lane on westbound 800 North at the intersection of 800 West. The officer was heading east on 800 North and pulled in front of Bencomo’s truck in an attempt to prevent her from driving off.
But Bencomo backed up, and then pulled around the officer’s car, hitting him in the process. The truck crashed near 980 W. 1600 North and Bencomo was taken into custody.
She was booked into jail on suspicion of attempted murder, failure to stop at the command of law enforcement, and leaving the scene of an accident.
The jail report regarding Bencomo’s arrest makes no mention of the officer firing shots as Bencomo pulled around his car and hit him, however. It also doesn’t mention there was a passenger in Bencomo’s truck who was shot in the chin.
Orem police confirmed on Friday evening there was an officer-involved shooting at 800 N. 800 West but would not say the shooting was connected to Bencomo’s arrest.
They refused to release any further details about the situation until a press conference Wednesday, where Orem Police Chief Gary Giles finally confirmed the shooting involved Bencomo, and that the passenger in the truck suffered a gunshot wound.
Giles showed dashcam video from the officer’s patrol car that shows him getting out of his car with his weapon drawn as Bencomo backs away at the 800 North intersection. He then starts to holster his weapon when it appears she is attempting to drive away.
When Bencomo angles the truck toward the officer, he draws his weapon again and fires several shots at the car as he jumps to the left side of the truck. One shot hit the passenger in the face or chin area, according to Giles.
The officer avoided a direct impact with the truck but was hit slightly. Giles did not identify the officer but said he is doing OK. He has many years of law enforcement experience, Giles added.
Despite the delay in providing more information about the shooting, Giles denied that Orem police were attempting to "downplay" the shooting in any way.
The jail report does not mention the shooting because it wasn’t a "critical" part of the reason why Bencomo was arrested. Such a report only includes details justifying to a judge why the arrested person should be in jail, and Giles contended Wednesday that the officer-involved shooting did not factor into that justification.
"Those actions are independent of the shooting," he said.
There are now two investigations associated with the Friday incident, Giles said: The criminal case against Bencomo and an investigation of the officer-involved shooting.
The shooting investigation is being handled by the Utah County officer-involved critical incident investigation team, Giles said.
Giles didn’t identify the passenger of the car Wednesday out of respect for her privacy. However, family members have identified her as 24-year-old Julia Jones. Bencomo and Jones were married, but Jones had recently filed for divorce, according to her stepmother, Laura Jones. Laura believes Julia may have been fighting with Bencomo and trying to get her to stop the car when she was shot.
Earlier this week, some members of the Jones family called for the Orem Police Department to acknowledge that Julia Jones had been shot.
Giles said he did not know why the officer fired his weapon, and the shooting is still being investigated. He believes the officer was simply trying to save his own life when he fired the shots, he said.
Giles said investigators initially didn’t know Jones’s injuries were from a gunshot wound because they thought she may have been injured in the 1600 North crash, which was fairly serious.
"My heart goes out to the family and to (Jones), and I wish her a full recovery," he said.
Orem woman was shot in jaw, 'covered in blood,' new report says
Samantha Bencomo and Julia Jones weren't legally supposed to be hanging out together on Friday when Jones was shot in the jaw, possibly by an Orem police officer.Julia Jones underwent surgery Saturday and was expected to remain in intensive care until at least early next week, according to family members.
Giles said he did not know if Jones would face any charges.
There may have been further confusion surrounding the incident because police on Friday said no one was hospitalized in the incident. Giles said the officer who said that likely meant that no officers were hospitalized.
The police chief said both the criminal investigation of Bencomo and the shooting investigation are ongoing. Investigators are still interviewing witnesses, and there are at least five different crime scenes that are still being examined, he added.
"We’ve got to piece this back together," Giles said.
