SALT LAKE CITY -- A suspected serial bank robber led Salt Lake City police on a chase through Sugar House on Friday that ended inside a Harmons grocery store.
Michael A. Bacon, 45, had been named earlier in the week as the prime suspect in five separate bank robberies, click here for details.
Bacon was spotted by police, who were in the area for an unrelated incident. When an officer tried to approach Bacon, authorities said he took off for a nearby clothing store.
"I was at the computer putting the information in, and I hear somebody come in and my coworker Eric said, 'Hi,'" explained Catherine Merrell, an employee at Tuxedo Junction.
The staff inside the store quickly realized Bacon was not a customer when an officer chased in after him.
"The officer was right here, and then he barricaded himself," Salesman Eric Garcia said.
According to Garcia, Bacon ran down a hallway in the shop and created a barrier between him and police with some nearby furniture.
Staff then heard several loud sounds, which they later learned was Bacon kicking in part of their wall. As police watched, Bacon managed to crawl through a small hole and then run out a back exit.
Eventually, authorities caught up with Bacon at a nearby Harmons, where they cornered him inside.
"They essentially got him cornered inside the store, and I think the flee went out of him," said Lt. Brian Purvis of the Salt Lake City Police Department.
After he was taken into custody, authorities said Bacon confessed to robbing 5 banks in Salt Lake City and West Valley City from February to March. See the video below for footage of Bacon speaking to FOX 13 News as police escorted him.
