The week in crime

Murder charge filed in freeway shooting

A murder charge has been filed against a West Point man in connection with a freeway shooting in Salt Lake City on Jan. 9.

Police believe known gang member Matthew James Day, 23, drove up in a black vehicle next to the Jeep of rival gang member Cesar Ramirez, 18, during afternoon rush hour on I-15. Day then shot Ramirez, according to charges filed Tuesday in 3rd District Court.

After he was shot, "Ramirez managed to stop the vehicle on the side of the freeway and was taken to the hospital, where he later died from his injuries sustained from the bullet wound," the affidavit states.

The day after the shooting, police in Davis County stopped a black vehicle driven by Day. He and three men inside the car were all wearing red and are associated with a gang, according to prosecutors. Day, however, was not arrested until late February.

Investigators say Day admitted that "the shooting resulted from an earlier altercation with the occupants of the Jeep, who were believed to be rival gang members," the charges state. "Further, he admitted that he participated in the shooting, along with two others in his vehicle."

— Jacob Hancock

Lindon teen admits fabricating kidnap

LINDON — A 14-year-old girl who claimed she'd nearly been abducted in Lindon — a story that caused citywide panic — has admitted she made up the story.

Lindon police were notified Feb. 25 that the girl was walking home in the area of 400 North and 835 East when, she claimed, a man jumped out of the bushes and grabbed her, said Police Chief Cody Cullimore.

The girl said she was carried for several blocks before the man dropped her when a car approached, then slid down the banks of the nearby Murdock Canal and ran away, Cullimore said.

Despite dozens of hours of investigation involving police dogs and officers from four different agencies, police could find no evidence of sliding or footprints in the muddy canal, or any other clues.

Sunday, the young woman confessed to making up the story and reporting the false facts to her parents, police and other friends, Cullimore said.

"I do not, at this time, fully understand her motivation in creating this story," the chief wrote in an e-mail to city leaders and residents. "I am sending this message … in an attempt to relieve concerns in the community."