The Salt Lake Police Department is defending itself in the case of the man accused of a string of hit-and-runs in the city and questions about why Pham wasn't arrested after the initial hit-and-run last August.

The Salt Lake Police Department is defending itself in the case of the man accused of a string of hit-and-runs in the city and questions about why Ahn Pham wasn’t arrested after the initial hit-and-run last August.

A department spokesman told KSL TV that the case was investigated as an aggravated assault. But, it was determined that there wasn’t enough probable cause to arrest Pham, despite having a license plate number, a victim, and two witness accounts of what happened.

  • jeffw@lemmy.worldM
    431·
    9 months ago

    Eh, what are we gonna do, stick anyone who has a hit and run in jail? Jail should be reserved for dangerous people, not someone who commits a hit and run. They had no way of knowing it would turn into a serial thing.

    Edit: I should add that purposeful bodily injury is a small subset of hit and runs that would be different than just a regular car crash that damages a vehicle or structure. This case appears to involve multiple attempted vehicular homicides, which is far more serious than a hit and run, which typically just involves fender benders

      • jeffw@lemmy.worldM
        321·
        9 months ago

        Minor property crimes don’t deserve jail time. They deserve fines

        • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
          201·
          9 months ago

          FTA:

          KSL went seeking answers after the probable cause statement said that the victim, Samantha Mathews, told police that Pham allegedly tried to lure her into his car. When she refused, Mathews told police that the car sped up and hit her.

          This is not a fender bender in a parking lot. This is an attempted abduction (probably attempted rape,) turned into an attempted murder.

                • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  62·
                  9 months ago

                  I didn’t post it.

                  The only edit to my comment was from an auto-incorrect “gender” to “fender”

                  The article says the dude tried to force a woman into his car and when he failed, ran her over. Which is pretty much my definition of “dangerous man”

        • JoBo@feddit.uk
          121·
          9 months ago

          Minor property crime?

          What exactly do you think a hit and run is?

          • jeffw@lemmy.worldM
            216·
            9 months ago

            A car crash where you typically do less than 2-3k in damage. It does not require bodily injury to be a hit and run

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
              101·
              9 months ago

              Pham is accused of hitting five more people after this case from August.

              Read the damn article.

              • jeffw@lemmy.worldM
                14·
                9 months ago

                Read my original comment? My point is “why do of they have arrested him after one hit and run?” As I stated to you before, I missed the part where they said the hit and run was directed at an individual. People should not be locked up for run of the mill hit and runs.

    • JoBo@feddit.uk
      103·
      9 months ago

      First off, the police didn’t even arrest him. This is nothing to do with a ‘failure’ to lock him up, it’s a failure to bring any charges at all.

      But, more importantly, hit and run is a very serious crime. Whether or not you were at fault for hitting someone, leaving the scene instead of getting them help is the most serious element of the crime (in the absence of evidence of intent).

      • jeffw@lemmy.worldM
        416·
        9 months ago

        Hitting an individual is a small subset of hit and runs. Most just involve property damage to a vehicle or structure

          • jeffw@lemmy.worldM
            411·
            9 months ago

            Sure? I’m not defending the dude in the article, who I now know was attacking people. I admit I skipped a few paragraphs and misunderstood this case. But I’m still steadfast in my belief that property crimes don’t deserve prison sentences. A hit and run in and of itself does not warrant being locked up.

        • JoBo@feddit.uk
          42·
          9 months ago

          I don’t think that is true. But even if it was, this particular hit and run hit a person. As you know because the guy turned out to be a fucking serial killer using his car as a weapon.

          • jeffw@lemmy.worldM
            34·
            9 months ago

            As I’ve said, this particular case is different. But why would the majority of hit and runs involve injuries? The majority of car accidents do not involve serious injuries. The ones that make the news do, but most accidents are minor

            • JoBo@feddit.uk
              42·
              9 months ago

              I’ve no idea why you’re wriggling so very hard to exonerate the police here but it is a really fucking terrible look. HTH

              • jeffw@lemmy.worldM
                35·
                9 months ago

                I’m not? I’ve said multiple times that this case is different.

                Once more, people, in general, should not be locked up for causing minor damage to another vehicle, even when they flee the scene.

                As I have said MULTIPLE times, if the hit and run involves targeting a person or a major crash that injures someone, that is different

                • JoBo@feddit.uk
                  23·
                  9 months ago

                  No one has argued for anyone to be locked up for causing minor damage to inanimate objects.

                  If you are unwilling to grapple with the details of this offender and/or unable to quit your knee-jerk defence of the police persistently ignoring the crimes of predators, just keep your fucking mouth shut.

                  Before the first crash, on Aug. 22, 2023, witnesses saw a white sedan with a license plate number registered to Pham pull up beside a 36-year-old woman. She shrugged off the vehicle and began to run away when the car “sped up and hit [her] causing her to fly over the vehicle and land on the ground hard,” charging documents state. The driver then sped away.

                  • jeffw@lemmy.worldM
                    32·
                    9 months ago

                    Except people have disagreed with my statements?

                    I’m not talking about the article, I’ve already discussed that in other threads. Of course they fucked up and should have more aggressively pursued Pham.