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WEST VALLEY CITY — A 15-year-old boy was released from the hospital and booked into jail Friday after police say he fled from officers in a stolen car and crashed into a house, killing a 24-year-old man standing on the porch.
The victim was visiting an elderly woman in his neighborhood when he was hit, the man's family told police. Police identified the man Friday as Adrian Hernandez-Rodriguez.
The man who owns the home told KSL-TV his mother was giving food to Hernandez-Rodriguez when the car crashed into him.
"She just kept saying Adrian, Adrian, Adrian," said homeowner Chris Bonilla. He said his mom gets constant help from Hernandez-Rodriguez.
"My mom always talked very well about him. I guess the kid was always keeping an eye on her," Bonilla said. "And would take her to church whenever my mom would need a ride because she doesn't drive."
Bonilla said the man's actions said a lot about who he was as a person.
"You don't see that very often. Especially for a young kid, 23, 24 years old. They're always doing other things, and for him to take that time it says a lot about him."
The elderly woman is now in the hospital with high blood pressure after witnessing all this. Bonilla said his mom was traumatized by the incident. When she returns home, she won't be able to live here anymore, because her house has been condemned.
"The house is not livable. The whole corner of the house, it's pretty much gone," Bonilla said. "The roof is pretty much just hanging."
Bonilla says it'll likely take six months to a year to make the home livable again.
Police said the teenage driver was arrested for investigation of failure to stop at command of an officer causing injury, hit and run, possession of a stolen vehicle, aggravated assault, driving without a license and failure to maintain control of a vehicle.
Just after 7 p.m. Thursday, a West Valley police officer in an unmarked vehicle spotted a stolen car at 3100 S. Redwood Road.
The officer did not initiate a pursuit but followed the stolen vehicle as it turned into a neighborhood. As backup officers converged on the area, they waited until the car stopped near Lehi Drive and Beaver Street and three teens got out, said West Valley police spokeswoman Roxeanne Vainuku. The two passengers ran as police moved in. They were captured by officers.
The driver, however, got back into the vehicle and sped away. Although police did not chase after him, an officer 15 feet down the road threw spike strips onto the road in an attempt to stop the vehicle, Vainuku said.
"As the suspect fled, he hit a police vehicle as well as the spike strips," according to police. But the teen driver "did not stop and fled from the scene at a high rate of speed."
A few hundred yards later, the boy lost control of the vehicle when he rounded a curve on Lehi Drive; he went through 2 yards and hit a 24-year-old man standing outside, killing him, according to police.
"The suspect vehicle also crashed through the front of a home causing heavy damage and continued on into the next yard where it hit two more vehicles," police said.
At that point, the 15-year-old driver got out and laid down on the ground. The boy was taken to a local hospital to be treated for injuries that were not considered to be life-threatening. Vainuku said he remained in the hospital Friday. A 17-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl who were passengers in the vehicle were taken to juvenile detention.
Police say the house hit by the teen sustained "extensive damage." The home's gas meter was knocked from the home, causing a "significant gas leak," which forced the evacuation of some residents in the neighborhood, according to police. Neighboring residents were allowed to return to their homes Thursday night. The homeowner whose house was heavily damaged is staying with other family members.
Vainuku emphasized that the incident "was not a pursuit, it was never a pursuit" and involved an unmarked police car.
"This person made a bad decision, and this person killed someone in the process," Vainuku said.
Contributing: Aimee Cobabe, Cassidy Wixom, Lauren Steinbrecher
