SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah Highway Patrol trooper has been hospitalized in serious condition after an incident involving an SUV that had fled an earlier scene in Salt Lake City. The injured trooper fell from an overpass near Interstate 80 and 7200 West when trying to stop the suspect.
According to Salt Lake City police, the incident started at approximately 10 a.m. when officers attempted to stop the SUV and have it pull off to the side of the road. Instead, the suspect inside the SUV, identified as Sammy Michael Swickey, fled from the scene, although officers did not follow in pursuit.
Following the first incident with Swickey, police put out a description to other law enforcement agencies. A few minutes later, another Salt Lake City officer spotted Swickey, 34, near 1300 South and 7200 West and attempted to stop the SUV, only for it to dive off again.
During the second engagement, Swickey hit the officer's car, causing damage to the vehicle, but the officer and their K-9 partner were not injured.
Swickey was later spotted near I-80 and 7200 West where a UHP trooper in the area tried placing spikes in the street to stop his SUV when he fell off the overpass onto the street below.
Officers on the scene who witnessed the fall began providing immediate medical attention before the trooper was airlifted to a hospital in serious but stable condition.
Swickey, who was later taken into custody after being spotted by a Department of Public Safety helicopter in a hotel parking lot, was booked in jail for aggravated assault against a public safety officer, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and two counts of felony fleeing.
