OREM, Utah-After a Friday officer-involved shooting in Orem led to confusion and calls for police to provide more information, authorities on Wednesday attempted to clarify the details.
This situation began at about 6:20 pm Friday near 1153 N. State in Orem when an owner of Leiva Motors saw a pickup truck back into a Jeep Wrangler which was for sale in the lot.
The owner attempted to get the driver, 27-year-old Samantha Bencomo, to stop. However, the truck drove away and the owner began following it in his own car, per a jail report.
He reported to police that he saw the truck run into a wall near 400 West and 920 North and then pull into a gas station at 1091 N. State.
At this point, the car lot owner flagged down a police officer who had pulled into this gas station.
The officer attempted to get Bencomo to stop but she drove away on southbound State Street.
Another officer came across Bencomo’s truck which was in a left-turn lane on westbound 800 North at the intersection of 800 West.
The officer headed eastbound on 800 North and pulled in front of Bencomo’s truck in an attempt to prevent her from driving off.
However, Bencomo then backed up and pulled around the officer’s car, hitting him in the process.
The truck crashed near 980 W. 1600 North and Bencomo was taken into custody.
Bencomo was booked into jail on suspicion of attempted murder, failure to stop at the command of law enforcement and leaving the scene of an accident.
