Suspect arrested in American Fork AMBER Alert, officer-involved critical incident
AMERICAN FORK, Utah (KUTV) — The suspect at the center of an AMBER Alert issued out of American Fork has been located and booked into jail.
Officials said detectives with the American Fork Police Department located 29-year-old Danny Sihalath Thursday.
He was taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries sustained during his interactions with police Tuesday, and then booked into the Utah County Jail.
Witnesses captured dramatic video of he incident in the parking lot of the Walmart at 949 W Grasslands Drive.
American Fork Police Lt. Josh Christensen said the incident began with a shoplifting, where Sihalath had been stopped by store employees. When officers arrived, Sihalath allegedly got into some type of altercation with police before fleeing.
Police said he ran to an occupied vehicle. A woman inside exited the car and got onto the ground, Christensen said. However, a 5-year-old child was still inside, something police did not know.
“I could see the police officer with his arms out pointing a gun at him and that was alarming,” said Maria Loveless, who witnessed events unfold.
She shared video with 2News, capturing the moments shots were fired by police and the car sped off.
“All of a sudden I heard gunshots which really caught me off guard,” Loveless said.
Lt. Christensen said it was a deputy with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office that fired the shots. He said officers did nott hear the woman shouting about the child inside.
An AMBER Alert was issued for child around 11 p.m.
Officials said later that night, Sihalath dropped off the child at a distant relative’s house. They said the car was then dumped in West Valley.
The woman, who had some relation to the suspect, was booked on charges of felony obstruction and retail theft charges Wednesday morning.
Sihalath faced felony charges of retail theft, aggravated assault and evading arrest. He also faces charges of failure to stop at the command of an officer and reckless endangerment.