- A Midvale man, Yosef Zewdie Amha, is charged with criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.
- Amha allegedly hit a police car to escape an alleged kidnapping on March 21.
- Driver Joshua Jacob Bavaro faces charges, including aggravated kidnapping and DUI.
LEHI — Criminal charges were filed Friday against a Midvale man who claimed hitting a police car was his "last resort" to escape a man he believed was kidnapping him.
Yosef Zewdie Amha, 33, is charged in 4th District Court with criminal mischief, a second-degree felony, and reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor.
About 12:30 a.m. on March 21, three Utah Highway Patrol troopers were in the process of conducting a DUI investigation in Lehi when another vehicle not involved in the traffic stop swerved across three lanes of traffic and smashed into one of the UHP vehicles. The vehicle "then traveled past all three troopers, missing the troopers by an estimated 3 feet, before coming to rest in the far-right lane. The damage to the UHP patrol vehicle is estimated at more than $5,000," according to charging documents.
Amha, the passenger the vehicle, claimed he had met the driver at a bar in Sandy earlier in the evening and thought he was getting a ride home from the man, the charges state. Instead, he says the driver got onto I-15 at 9000 South and refused to drive to Amha's home.
The driver, Joshua Jacob Bavaro, 40, of American Fork, was charged Thursday with aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony; DUI and refusing a DUI test, class B misdemeanors.
Bavaro told Amha that he was taking him back to his home and then "began to say weird things like, 'This is what I mean, see this is what happens, now you're going to go to my house and experience what I have to experience, you're going to do this," according to charging documents.
"(Amha) stated that he feared for his life and that when he saw the police cars, he grabbed the steering wheel and pulled it. (He) stated that he was trying to get the car to stop and get the attention of the officers," the charges state.
A police booking affidavit further notes that "the driver of the vehicle was intoxicated, and the passenger of the vehicle was also intoxicated." Arresting officers also noted that Amha told them he was "feeling it was his last resort" to yank the steering wheel and hit the patrol car.
