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SALT LAKE COUNTY -- The sheriff of Salt Lake County was nearly run over Saturday morning by a woman he tried to help.
Sheriff Jim Winder says he was driving up Parley's Canyon toward Park City around 9 a.m. for a training seminar when he noticed a driver swerving all over the road. Winder initially thought she was drunk, but went to her aid when he saw a flash near the front of the car and thought it might be a mechanical problem.
He pulled up behind the vehicle and got out to try to talk to her. That's when he says the woman, Margarita Rubio, tried to run him down.
"As I activated my lights, notified dispatch, I got out to approach the driver, and the vehicle actually backed up at a high rate of speed towards me, causing me to get back in the car, out of the way," Winder said. "It then pulled back into the lane of travel and headed eastbound."
Winder says he wasn't sure why the woman tried to back over him. "It's a momentary decision," he says. "Was it an aggressive assault? At the time I was debating to what it was because of the motions that occurred prior with what appeared to be mechanical problems. I couldn't tell if it was a mechanical issue or an aggressive assault.
Winder followed the woman all the way to Wanship, where law enforcement was preparing to spike her tires. That's where she finally stopped.
Officers arrested Rubio. Inside her car, they found bags and piles of clothing and merchandise from high-end department stores. They say it was all purchased, but say those purchases were suspicious. Some of the most expensive items were sold at a fraction of their price.
E-mail: sdallof@ksl.com
