WEST VALLEY CITY -- Police are still searching for two men who fled from an officer during a routine traffic stop, and witnesses said that after the pair crashed their car one suspect threatened a would-be good Samaritan with a handgun.
An officer with the West Valley City Police Department attempted to stop the suspects for speeding, but they fled. Police decided not to pursue due to the icy conditions.
But moments later, the vehicle skidded off the street and onto a lawn, nearly crashing into Jo Andelin's house.
“If he hadn't caught some grass there, he would have been right in my front room actually,” Andelin said.
Andelin is an EMT, and she rushed outside to see if anyone in the car needed medical help.
By then the driver had fled on foot, but the passenger was still there--and that's when the situation turned into an armed, aggravated assault.
“As soon as I opened the door, somebody came up behind me and pushed me out of the way with a gun,” Andelin said.
Wendy Wild and her husband were also awakened by the crash. They watched this all go down from their upstairs bedroom window next door.
She was on the phone with 911, and her husband was armed.
Wendy Wild said: "When he pulled out the weapon, my husband, our gun was right there, he grabbed it and says: ‘Stop or I’ll shoot, put your weapon down!' And I told him: ‘You should fire. He's committing a felony, you can fire on him.' But we didn't because we have a 5 year old up there and we didn't want [the suspect] to shoot back. It could have been bad, really, really bad!"
The guy with the gun hopped back into the gold sedan and sped away.
Police said they are relieved no one was injured but can't believe a would-be good Samaritan wound up being threatened with a gun.
“They see the crash, they want to be helpful and then all of a sudden it's turned on them to a dangerous situation,” said Lt. Dalan Taylor with West Valley City PD.
Police are still searching for the suspects and the gold, 4-door sedan they fled in. Anyone with information about the suspects or the crime is asked to call police at 801-840-4000.
