1 arrested following police chase, fiery crash

SALT LAKE CITY — A 29-year-old driver who police say nearly ran over an officer and then got into a chase that ended in a fiery crash has been arrested.

Jonathan Ramirez Villa was arrested for investigation of negligently operating a vehicle resulting in injury, failing to stop for police, aggravated assault, reckless driving, speeding, DUI and four counts of running a red light or stop sign.

On Sunday, about 1:30 a.m., Ramirez was pulled over near 350 West and 500 South for allegedly going 10 mph over the speed limit, making an illegal turn and not having a license plate, according to a police booking affidavit.

When the officer approached the vehicle, Ramirez said, "I'm gonna be honest, I'm picking up my friend. I don't know," the affidavit states.

The officer asked "what picking up his friend has to do with the traffic violations he committed?" and Ramirez again said he didn't know, according to the affidavit.

As the officer was asking Ramirez for his driver's license, he noticed that Ramirez was slowly putting his car into drive.

"Jonathan began to accelerate the vehicle quickly while both of my hands were holding onto the vehicle. Jonathan turned the steering wheel to the left so that the vehicle came closer to me. The quick acceleration and turning of the vehicle caught me off guard and I felt pulled by the vehicle. I began moving with the vehicle while holding onto it and yelled at Jonathan to get out of the car numerous times. The vehicle got closer to me as Jonathan was turning back onto the road to the left, and I felt the vehicle side swipe the right side of my body," the officer wrote in the affidavit.

"At this point in time, I felt tremendous fear that I was at a substantial risk of serious bodily injury. I felt that apprehension of the driver would be extremely unsafe if I continued to hold onto the vehicle," the officer continued.

After letting go of the vehicle, the officer watched as Ramirez ran a red light at 400 West and 400 South. About a minute later, however, the vehicle turned around and drove by the officer again, and he initiated a pursuit, according to the affidavit.

"Jonathan sped up quickly and turned right onto 500 South through a red light without slowing down. We traveled west on 500 South for one block and Jonathan turned right to go north on 500 West through another red light. Jonathan took the turn wide and ended up on the wrong side of the road," the affidavit states.

Ramirez continued driving the wrong way on 500 West. Near 200 South, "I observed the vehicle drive off road to the right and slam into a tree at speeds of close to 60-80 mph. The vehicle flipped into the air and landed upright in the roadway at about 175 S. 500 West," the officer wrote in the affidavit. "I realized that both Jonathan and the passenger were unconscious. The vehicle began to light on fire by the engine compartment."

A bystander helped pull Ramirez out of the burning vehicle as police used fire extinguishers to put out the flames. The Salt Lake City Fire Department had to extricate the passenger from the vehicle.

"Both parties sustained serious bodily injury from the crash," according to the affidavit.

Ramirez was arrested after being treated at a local hospital.

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