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WEST VALLEY CITY — A man was taken into custody Tuesday after police said he crashed into at least four cars and then invaded two houses, holding residents in each at gunpoint.
Officers said they arrested 31-year-old Luis Fernando Garcia-Raudales for investigation of aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, theft of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance and other alleged crimes.
At around 3:20 p.m., Lauren Robinson said she was working out of her bedroom in her home on Lehi Drive and heard a loud crash.
"I came out and my car was not really where I left it. It was about 30 feet from where I left it," Robinson said, looking at the aftermath of the collision. "Whoever had done it had just got out of the car and my neighbor said, 'Hey, he just got out and ran around the corner through these driveways.'"
West Valley Police Lt. Steve Burke said after impacting four cars in hit-and-run crashes, the man invaded a home on an adjacent street, stealing a firearm and holding the homeowner at gunpoint.
"As soon as he saw the subject in his home, pointing a gun at him, he kind of dove out of the way behind the couch or something, just so he was as far out of the line of fire as he could get," Burke said.
Burke said it did not appear a shot was fired. Instead, he said the man then went to the next house with the gun. That's where Heidie Devenish came face to face with him.
"All of a sudden I heard a loud noise and the dogs went off, so I go, 'OK, what's up with the dogs?' " Devenish told KSL-TV. "I went out into the hallway and when I turned around, the guy was standing right there with the gun pointed at my face."
Devenish said she didn't understand the man, though he seemed to say something about taking her bicycle.
"I'm just like, 'put the gun down please, just put the gun down,'" Devenish said. "(He) rambled something off about the mafia, and I'm like, 'whatever.' "
The homeowner said the man next sat down on her couch, still pointing the gun at her.
"He finally put the gun on the table, and then I put my body in front of the gun so he couldn't come back and grab it," Devenish said.
I just had to keep my cool. If you don't then they end up shooting you.
–Heidie Devenish
Eventually she was able to convince the man to leave, and police — who had their guns drawn outside — took him into custody. Devenish said she had been held at gunpoint once before when she worked at a drive-thru and someone pulled up with a shotgun.
"I just had to keep my cool," Devenish said. "If you don't then they end up shooting you."
She said she had to vent for a while by taking a bicycle ride.
"Maybe it'll hit me tomorrow, I don't know," Devenish said. "It was a crazy afternoon. That's all I have to say."
