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WEST VALLEY CITY — The owner of a West Valley mechanic shop went the extra mile — or in this case, several extra miles — to retrieve a customer's stolen SUV on Friday.
Alexandre "Alex" Souza not only found the missing vehicle, but followed it and alerted police — then later witnessed it get stolen a second time right in front of him.
In the end, one person was arrested and West Valley police were still looking Friday for at least two others believed to have been involved.
Shirlei and Cesar Milder had taken their BMW X5 to Souza at Forty 7 Garage, 2101 W. 2200 South, before leaving the country on vacation. Souza had their vehicle fixed by the time they arrived back in Utah at 11 p.m. Thursday. The plan was for the Milders to stop by the shop on their way home from the airport and pick up their SUV. Souza left their keys hidden in an unassuming place, separate from the SUV.
But when the Milders arrived at the auto shop, their SUV was gone. Cesar Milder said he called Souza.
"The car is not here," he told shop owner.
"What do you mean?" Souza replied.
"The car is not here," Milder repeated.
Souza went to his shop and started pulling surveillance video. What he saw was a man who came onto his lot and started checking all the doors of the cars to see if any were unlocked. The man then happened to find the keys to the SUV and was able to match the keys to the vehicle, Milder said.
Souza called police and reported the theft and provided them with the video. But Milder said Souza felt so bad about what had happened that he decided to drive around and look for the vehicle himself.
The Milders, who were still jet lagged from their trip, went home. But about 3 a.m., they got a call from Souza.
"I found it. I'm right behind it," he told the couple.
Souza also called West Valley police and told them he had followed the SUV to the area of 3350 South and 4350 West and watched as a man parked the car in front of a residence. A Dodge Challenger then pulled up, the man got out of the SUV and into the passenger seat of the Challenger, and drove away, said West Valley Police Lt. Robert Briton.
Police responding to the area spotted the Challenger near 3100 South and followed as other officers set up tire spikes near Bangerter Highway and Parkway Boulevard (3800 West). The man driving the Challenger was able to drive around the tire spikes and a chase with the vehicle ensued.
Briton said the chase went from Bangerter Highway onto state Route 201 to 7200 West and back to the Mountain View Corridor. Police terminated their pursuit near 3500 South due to safety as the fleeing vehicle was driving over 100 mph, he said.
But while that chase was happening, the SUV was stolen again.
According to Milder, when the men drove away from the SUV in the Challenger, they left the SUV running. Not long after, someone came out of the house that the SUV was parked in front of and was about to get in, when Souza confronted him. The man told Souza that it was his girlfriend's SUV, but Souza told him it was not. The man then got into the SUV and attempted to get away from Souza.
Souza attempted to follow the SUV for a second time, but the man tried to get away from him by speeding and doing "wild U-turns" in the street, Milder said. Souza was on the phone with police the entire time, updating them about the approximate location of the stolen SUV.
West Valley police and Utah Highway Patrol troopers spotted the SUV after it got onto I-215 and another chase ensued. This time, however, the driver pulled over and surrendered near 500 South on the Legacy Highway, Briton said.
A man in his mid-20s was taken into custody and was expected to be booked into the Salt Lake County Jail once detectives finished questioning him.
Although it was originally reported that the SUV owner had found his own vehicle, the Milders say all the credit should go to Souza and police.
"We definitely appreciate Alex so much to help us to resolve this problem and the police for being there so quickly," Shirlei Milder said.
"He is a great, super honest mechanic," Cesar Milder added, while also noting that Souza is well known in the Brazilian community.
Melly Komijen was arrested for investigation of being in a stolen vehicle and possession of drug paraphernalia.
