AMERICAN FORK, Utah — A Utah AMBER Alert issued late Tuesday night for a child out of American Fork was canceled overnight as the child was found. The search for the suspect is ongoing.
The alert, issued at 10:49 p.m. and canceled just after 3 a.m., names 29-year-old Danny Sihalath as the suspect.
Video below shows suspect fleeing Walmart parking lot as officers fire at his car (Marie Loveless / YouTube: My Silly Squirts)
Police said Sihalath abducted a 5-year-old boy in a Walmart parking lot, but the boy was later located and is safe.
Police initially wanted the public to be on the lookout for a vehicle Sihalath drove off in, but that car was located in West Valley City just before 8 Wednesday morning.
American Fork Police told FOX 13 News the incident began when some Walmart employees saw Sihalath opening packages and trying to shoplift. When officers arrived, they saw him leaving the store and running to a vehicle.
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Officers started issuing commands, which Sihalath ignored, and a female passenger got out of the car.
"He was telling him to do something to stop whatever he was doing and it started to escalate pretty quickly and the voices started to raise pretty quickly,” said Loveless, who witnessed the incident and pulled out her phone to record it happening. "You can hear the gunshots, took a step back and saw the car zooming around the corner and there is a police officer that runs over into the parking lot.”
"The male continued not to comply and began to flee in the vehicle," said Lt. Josh Christensen with the American Fork Police Department. "In his attempts to flee, he did end up striking his adult passenger, the adult female passenger with the vehicle, knocking her to the ground."
Police also report a Utah County Sheriff's Deputy fired "several rounds" as the car drove off. Witnesses told FOX 13 News they saw Sihalath driving toward officers before he left the area altogether.
Lt. Christensen explained that surrounding agencies helped track the suspect and vehicle, and after engaging in another pursuit, they lost sight of the car in Lehi.
For witnesses, like Loveless, she says she is glad her five children weren’t with her at the time and that nobody else was hurt.
“I think it kind of rattles the community when things like that happen because this is a safe area to live,” said Loveless.
Police say it is unknown if Sihalath is armed or not at this time.
Police say the female passenger was treated and released at the scene by paramedics. Police say they their is some kind of family relationship between that passenger and Sihalath, but it is not known what that is at this time.
A child, which police believe to be that passengers son was in the car at the time Sihalath drove off.
Sihalath is described as:
- Asian or Pacific Islander
- 5'11"
- 190 pounds
- Black hair
- Brown eyes
- Wearing a black t-shirt, black pants, dark tennis shoes
- Sleeve tattoos on both forearms
