PUBLIC RELATIONS UNIT

December 4, 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact Information: PolicePRUnit@slcgov.com

SLCPD Arrest 22-year-old Man Following a Pursuit, Highly Coordinated Search Effort

SALT LAKE CITY — Overnight, officers with the Salt Lake City Police Department safely arrested a 22-year-old man after a highly coordinated and lengthy search.

Officers booked the suspect, Bhode Smith, into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail on charges of Failure to Respond to an Officer’s Signal to Stop, Failure to Stop at the Command of Law Enforcement, Driving on a Revoked License, and Violating Probation and/or Parole.

This investigation started at 3:14 a.m. on Sunday December 4, 2022, when a Salt Lake City Police officer saw a white SUV being driven near 800 West North Temple. The officer attempted a traffic stop but the driver refused to pull over. Officers pursued the white SUV because it closely matched the description of a car stolen during an aggravated assault that happened a few hours earlier.

That separate investigation started at 8:19 p.m. on Saturday December 3, 2022, near 100 South and 1900 West. During the investigation, officers learned two people were caught breaking into a car. One of the victims confronted the suspects. During that confrontation, one of the suspects threatened one of the victims with a gun.

One of the suspects stole the victim’s white SUV and drove away. The second suspect got into their own car and drove away.

At approximately 3:16 a.m. on December 4, 2022, officers lost sight of the stolen white SUV from 800 West North Temple. Several officers began checking the neighborhood.

At approximately 3:19 a.m. separate officers spotted a similar white SUV near 500 South Navajo Street. Officers believed the white SUV they had just located was the same stolen white SUV that fled from other officers earlier based on the fast and reckless manner for which the white SUV they were watching was being operated. Officers attempted to stop the white SUV, but the driver refused to pull over.

At 3:22 a.m. the driver of the white SUV police spotted at 500 South Navajo stopped and got out and immediately started running away into the neighborhood. Officers started a highly coordinated search effort to find the suspect. During the search, officers set up containment around the suspect’s last known location, which was in the 900-block of West Pueblo Street.

While holding containment, officers started a methodical search of the area. While searching, officers heard multiple gunshots. Those gunshots were determined to be unrelated to the pursuit. At 4:38 a.m., officers safely located the suspect hiding inside a garbage can near 950 South and 1500 West. Officers worked quickly to safely take the suspect who ran away, identified as Smith, into custody without any further incident.

In addition to the arrest of Smith, officers arrested a woman. She was inside the white SUV that Smith was driving that fled from 500 South Navajo. Officers booked her into jail on active warrants.

No further information is available for release. Both the aggravated assault incident and pursuit remain under investigation.

Officers have determined the white SUV Smith was driving was separate from the stolen white SUV they initially tried to stop at 800 West North Temple Street. That SUV and the suspect driver – who may be connected to the aggravated assault – is still wanted by police.

Charges are only allegations, and every arrested person is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

In October 2022, SLCPD Chief Mike Brown and Mayor Erin Mendenhall released an update to the SLCPD  Crime Control Plan to lower crime, improve response times, fill authorized staffing levels for sworn positions and to continue building community relationships.

The strategies outlined in the Revised Crime Control Plan include expanding recruitment and hiring efforts, developing a violent criminal apprehension team, implementing the Police Civilian Response Team, expanding the department’s call diversion program and its online reporting capabilities.

The Salt Lake City Police Department is not the custodian of record for jail booking photos. Utah Code 17-22-30 mostly prohibits the release of jail booking photos. Generally, a jail booking photo can only be released by the custodian of record after a conviction or when law enforcement determines the person is a fugitive or an imminent threat to a person or public safety. In Salt Lake City, the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office is the custodian of record for jail booking photos.

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