Man hit twice by cars after Pop-Tart struggle

SOUTH SALT LAKE — A man who allegedly punched a female store clerk to shoplift a Pop-Tart apparently had bad karma come back to bite him.

The man was hit not once but twice by cars while running away. The man suffered only minor injuries and refused medical treatment before being taken to jail.

The 20-year-old man entered Mini Mart, 310 E. 3300 South, and was observed by a female employee putting Pop-Tarts into his back pocket, said South Salt Lake police Capt. Tracy Tingey.

"He goes to leave the store. She confronts him. He punches her in the stomach. There's a struggle, and she rips his shirt off as he runs out the door," Tingey said.

As the man was running across the parking lot, he was hit by a slow-moving pickup truck.

"He gets up and continues to run after being hit by the truck," Tingey said.

But as the man darted into 3300 South to cross the street, he was hit by a minivan.

"It knocks him to the ground. He gets up and again continues to run, but responding police officers caught up with just a short distance later and he was taken into custody," Tingey said.

The man was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of robbery.