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Suspect in Herriman shooting in custody after five days on the run; deputy injured during chase

Posted at 9:28 PM, Jan 24, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-25 12:10:53-05

SPANISH FORK, Utah -- After five days on the run, a suspect in a Herriman shooting has finally been captured.

Justin Gary Llewelyn

Police arrested 33-year old Justin Llewelyn Wednesday evening in Spanish Fork, after a police chase and crash that injured a Utah County Sheriff's deputy.

Llewelyn is accused of firing at two officers and shooting a homeowner near the Riverton/Herriman border Saturday morning.

He disappeared, and on Tuesday,police arrested Tasha and Misty Llewelyn on obstruction of justice charges.

The next day, Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said the U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Apprehension Team (VFAST) tracked Llewelyn to the Utah County area.

"Got a visual confirmation of our suspect Justin Llewelyn at a park in Provo," said Unified Police Lieutenant Brian Lohrke.

Lt. Lohrke said detectives quickly showed up and immediately began to come up with a plan to safely take him into custody.

However, he said Llewelyn took off in a blue Dodge truck that they later discovered was stolen out of West Valley City.

After officers tried to pull him over, Lt. Lohrke said Llewelyn took off and led police on a pursuit down State Street.

"The pursuit went through Provo, down to Springville, and down to Spanish Fork," he said.

Llewelyn turned onto Main Street and headed north, he said.

Llewelyn sitting in truck before the chase in Provo -
Unified Police

Lt. Erik Knutzen with the Utah County Sheriff's Office said a Utah County deputy, in an act of heroism, finally stopped the chase.

"One deputy saw an opportunity to end the pursuit here with a PIT maneuver. He did that, ended the pursuit," he said.

Knutzen said the truck spun into a tow truck, which damaged the vehicle enough to stop it.

Roger Thurgood lives on Main Street and ran to his front yard after hearing the loud crash.

"It was just a sea of cops, and they were all having their guns pointing," he recounted.

Thurgood didn't know what was happening, but he could see police were focused on a man in the truck.

"They were yelling at the guy in the truck to get out," Thurgood said. "They drug him out on the ground, and then went and helped the police officer who was hurt."

"No force was used, he gave up at that point," Lt. Lohrke explained. "We were able to get him into handcuffs, and how we wanted to."

The sheriff's deputy suffered minor cuts and bruises from his airbag, Lt. Knutzen said.

Lt. Lohrke said Llewelyn also suffered minor injuries and was taken to the hospital.

Officers saw a gun in the truck, Lohrke said-- confirming Llewelyn was armed. He and Sheriff Rivera said they're grateful the situation ended without anyone hurt.

"That was our main concern-- how is this going to end?" Lt. Lohrke said. "It ended very, very peacefully without anybody else getting involved."

"I'm just happy that he's off the street," Sheriff Rivera said, adding, "People can sleep better tonight."

Salt Lake City Police said Wednesday night that they were in the process of beginning to interview Llewelyn. They said he'll face a long list of charges.