WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — A woman was killed Wednesday during a police pursuit involving a stolen vehicle that ended with the suspect crashing at the Valley Fair Mall in West Valley City.
West Valley City officer confronted a man who was allegedly smoking marijuana at a park when he fled on foot and later stole an electrician's vehicle and drove away, striking a worker who was outside of their vehicle at the time.
The suspect — later identified as 23-year-old Cesar Perez — was later spotted heading southbound on 2700 West before other officers in a nearby neighborhood saw the stolen vehicle on the side of the road.
When officers approached the vehicle in the new location, the suspect fled once again and rammed into two police vehicles before driving in the wrong direction into oncoming traffic on 2700 West and striking another vehicle head-on.
The person occupying the other vehicle, a 52-year-old woman from Salt Lake City, was killed in the crash, while the suspect rolled the stolen vehicle during the crash and was taken into custody.
“Anytime you’re looking at someone making a choice to do something illegal to behave in a way that endangers the public, that’s very concerning and that’s what we have here and as a result of this suspect's behavior, we now have a woman who has died," said Roxeanne Vainuku, deputy communications director for West Valley City.
The worker who was first hit suffered only minor injuries.
Perez is facing multiple criminal charges, including first-degree murder.
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