Suspect deliberately beat police officer weeks after sergeant’s death

SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah — A man is suspected of intentionally hitting a police officer with his truck on Friday. The incident came less than a month after a truck driver reportedly killed Santaquin Police Officer Bill Hooser by intentionally hitting him with his truck.

Attempted arrest

An arrest document said officers from the Unified Police Metro Gang Unit had a federal arrest warrant for Tyson Yellowbear. He was already out on bail on a burglary charge.

Police said they approached a parking lot near 300 E. and E. Helm St. in South Salt Lake when they saw Yellowbear getting into his truck.

According to the document, an officer threw out a spike strip at the parking lot exit to stop the suspect. Yellowbear reportedly managed to leave the parking lot as the officer was laying out the spike strip.

Instead of taking a “clear escape route westbound on East Helm Street,” Yellowbear intentionally drove into the police with his car, according to documents.

“The (suspect) initially attempted to turn west, but then suddenly turned east again, toward the victim, and accelerated rapidly. The vehicle driven by the (suspect) struck the victim, causing him to be thrown over the hood and across the road,” police said.

According to the document, the officer was “struck with such force that the connection to his police radio broke and the pistol magazines fell out of his bulletproof vest.”

Vehicle tracking

Another officer pursued Yellowbear as he drove away and rammed his patrol car into the suspect’s truck to disable him. The second officer suffered some injuries but was able to exit his vehicle on foot, police said.

Both officers reportedly chased Yellowbear and attempted to arrest him. Police said he “fighted with officers and did not follow verbal commands.”

The agency recommended charging Yellowbear with four counts: attempted murder, aggravated assault on a police officer, failure to stop at the direction of a police officer and obstruction of a peace officer.

Yellowbear could face life in prison if a jury finds he intentionally struck a police officer.

Arrest documents state that after officers read the suspect his Miranda rights, he “admitted knowing that the person he struck was a police officer; however, he denied intentionally striking the first police officer, who was the victim.”

The Unified Police Department told KSL Newsradio that both officers were hospitalized for their injuries. Both were released from the hospital the same day.

Similarities to the killing of police sergeant Bill Hooser in Santaquin

On May 5, Santaquin Police Sergeant Bill Hooser died in an incident with similar details.

Police accused truck driver Michael Aaron Jayne of deliberately targeting and killing Hooser, who was trapped between the truck and a patrol car.

Related: Suspect charged in connection with Sergeant Hooser’s death in Utah County

In both the South Salt Lake and Santaquin incidents, the suspects reportedly had the opportunity to speed away without hitting an officer. However, police said both Jayne and Yellowbear turned the wrong way, pointed their vehicles at an officer, accelerated and intentionally struck the officers.

Is this common?

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health stated on its website that between 2011 and 2020, 114 officers died in the line of duty because they were “struck by a vehicle.” That’s 8% of all line-of-duty deaths, excluding deaths caused by COVID-19.

The last time a Utah police officer was intentionally killed by a motorist was in 2018. The Utah Law Enforcement Memorial website identified the victim as David P. Romwell, a South Salt Lake police officer who died while trying to stop two burglary suspects who hit him with their car.