Sheriff’s deputies in Utah fired exactly 75 shots at a fleeing suspect while pursuing him on a busy highway in late December.
The Utah County Sheriff’s Office released dash cam footage showing the barrage of gunfire exchanged between police and Arturo Ray Gallemore-Jimenez on December 20.
A full 27 of those 75 police bullets came from the gun of one SWAT officer touting an automatic weapon. The Rambo-like scene on Interstate 15 unfolded after Gallemore-Jimenez was pulled over by Utah County Sheriff’s Deputies. Those officers were responding to reports of a man discharging a firearm at a truck stop.
According to witnesses at the Flying J truck stop in question, Gallemore-Jimenez locked his keys inside his pickup truck and used his gun to retrieve them–by shooting out his own window.
Initially compliant after being hailed by the cops–even raising his hands as officers arrived–Gallemore-Jimenez had a swift change of heart. According to police, he reached back into his truck for a revolver and then opened fire. In the ensuing spray of bullets, Gallemore-Jimenez then allegedly made it back into his truck and led the four responding sheriff’s deputies (plus one officer with the Spanish Fork Police Department) on a nine-mile chase before encountering the SWAT team waiting at the University Parkway exit.
The dash cam video shows that once Gallemore-Jimenez’s pickup truck comes into contact with the heavily armed-and-armored backup, however, a series of dramatic swerves result. Then the truck slams into a fence and finally stops for good.
Speaking with ABC News, Sergeant Spencer Cannon defended the seemingly irresponsible swarm of bullets fired at the high-speed suspect that night. He said, “Had he gotten off the freeway into one of these areas it would have been a nightmare.”
Gallemore-Jimenez was shot three times but survived–after recuperating at a nearby hospital, he was transferred to the Salt Lake City Jail. The flurry of bullets also caught at least one innocent bystander.
After being taken into custody, Gallemore-Jimenez admitted to shooting a man in the back in Denver the day before. Earlier this month, Denver authorities issued an arrest warrant over that shooting, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
Sergeant Cannon explained, “He was rambling, talking a thousand miles a minute. It seemed pretty clear he was under the influence of something. He told us he had shot someone in the back near Denver. We followed up on that.”
Gallemore-Jimenez was charged with three counts of attempted aggravated murder, and one count each of failure to respond to an officer, possession of firearms, possession of drugs, auto theft and driving with a suspended license. He’s currently being held on $1 million cash bail.
[image via screengrab/video courtesy Utah County Sheriff’s Office/ABC News]
