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SALT LAKE CITY —A man arrested earlier this week for allegedly leading police on a miles-long chase through Salt Lake County after a possible kidnapping and sexual assault was reported — hitting at least three cars before being stopped — is now being held also in connection with the assault.
Shawn Robby Ieremia, 36, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Monday for investigation of assaulting a police officer, threatening a police officer, failing to stop for police, failing to remain at the scene of a crash, theft by receiving stolen property, being a restricted person in possession of a weapon and violating his probation.
On Thursday, additional investigative counts of forcible sodomy and aggravated kidnapping in the course of committing unlawful detention were added.
The incident began when a woman ran into a barbershop near Trolley Square, hysterical, according to Salt Lake police.
According to his new police booking affidavit, Ieremia had invited the woman into his apartment near 700 South and 700 East and then sexually assaulted her. The woman told police Ieremia used his body weight to hold her down, but when he shifted, she "was able to get out from under him and run from the apartment."
While detectives were talking to the woman, other officers spotted a man that matched the suspect's description, driving a car that was reported stolen earlier in the week, Salt Lake Police Lt. Lisa Pascadlo said.
Ieremia refused to pull over for officers and fled, winding through multiple areas of the city. The ensuing chase went through Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake and West Valley City, according to a police booking affidavit. Along the way, police said he hit at least three vehicles, causing minor damage to each.
In West Valley, an officer was about to perform a PIT maneuver on Ieremia's vehicle, temporarily stopping it. As an officer got out of his patrol car, Ieremia was able to restart his car and drove toward the officer, the affidavit states. The officer was not hit, but his unoccupied patrol car was.
Ieremia then continued fleeing on 2200 West, and held a knife out the window as he drove, according to the affidavit.
"He made stabbing motions that the officers perceived that he may be threatening to stab them at some point," Pascadlo said.
Near 50 West 4500 South, "after driving into oncoming traffic, running multiple red lights and (driving at) higher speeds almost colliding with multiple vehicles," Ieremia was taken into custody, the affidavit states.
"He attempted to go across a median and crashed into a wall and subsequently surrendered," she said.
According to court records, Ieremia was convicted of robbery, a third-degree felony, in January 2020. A warrant was issued for his arrest in May for allegedly violating the conditions of his probation.
