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COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — A suspected car burglar accused of ramming a police patrol car while trying to avoid arrest is now facing multiple felony charges.
Trevor Dewain Berryman, 26, of Salt Lake City, was charged Friday in 3rd District Court with two counts of assault on a police officer and theft by receiving stolen property, second-degree felonies; failing to respond to an officer's signal to stop and possession of a weapon by a restricted person, third-degree felonies; and vehicle burglary and possession of another person's documents, class A misdemeanors.
On Sept. 12, a Cottonwood Heights police officer spotted Berryman driving a stolen Jeep, according to charging documents. The officer followed it to a gas station near 3000 East and Fort Union Boulevard and then attempted to make a traffic stop.
"The Jeep then accelerated toward (the officer's) police vehicle, and (the officer) had to swerve out of the way in order to avoid a collision. The Jeep entered Fort Union Boulevard at a high rate of speed. The Jeep ran several red lights and reached speeds of approximately 80 mph," athe charges state.
Another officer was able to successful spike the Jeep's tires at 700 East, but Berryman continued driving and attempted to get on I-215 from 7200 South, "struggling to get up the ramp with three flat tires," the charges say.
Berryman "was weaving back and forth trying to prevent officers from getting in front of him," but an officer was finally able to drive ahead of the Jeep in an attempt to prevent it from entering the freeway. Berryman responded by ramming the back of the patrol car twice before the Jeep he was driving came to a stop, according to the charges.
In the Jeep, officers said they found items stolen from at least one other vehicle burglary.
Berryman was on probation at the time of his arrest for a conviction in another robbery case, according to court records.
