UPDATE 11:01 A.M.: The deceased individual has been identified as Douglas Rodriguez, 21.
ORIGINAL POST: SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The identity of the driver, as well as new details surrounding the incident, has been released following a police chase in Salt Lake City early Sunday morning that ended in the death of one individual, according to West Valley City Police.
The driver has been identified as Josue Yahir Hernandez Perez, 20. Perez faces charges of manslaughter (second-degree felony), failure to respond to officers signal to stop – death/injury (second-degree felony), reckless driving (class-B misdemeanor), and no valid license (infraction).
On Oct. 8, at around 1 a.m., West Valley Police responded to an incident in progress that Salt Lake City Police had been involved in. Officers were asked to investigate a death that occurred at 900 South 1100 East.
SLCPD had responded to a shooting in Salt Lake City nearly an hour prior, and Perez fled the scene in a black Mercedes sedan. He had one passenger in the car, police said.
Police pursued the vehicle and Perez ended up crashing, causing the car to roll, which resulted in the death of his passenger. According to West Valley Police, the two had met up earlier in the evening and gone to a party.
When officers arrived at the party to investigate a shooting, Perez fled. He told police that he did see the emergency lights behind him, and that he fled after the passenger asked him to.
After the crash, “the victim was on top of him inside the vehicle,” and Perez was told that the passenger wouldn’t make it. The victim was then pronounced dead at the scene.
Upon reviewing the incident, police found that Perez went over a center median, over a sidewalk, and into a grassy lawn. “The vehicle was also observed to not be on any of its four wheels as those did not appear to make contact with the ground,” an affidavit states.
Police also discovered that Perez did not have a valid driver’s license.
“Due to the gravity of the charge it is feared that the suspect may evade law enforcement in the future if released,” the affidavit states.
The identity of the victim has not been released at this time.
No further information is currently available.
