South Jordan man injured after jumping onto hood of passing car

An argument between a man and woman took a bizarre turn Monday night, police said, after the South Jordan man suddenly decided to leap onto the hood of a passing car.

The 19-year-old's actions left him in critical condition Monday night at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, said Sandy police Lt. Victor Quezada.

Quezada said the two acquaintances were arguing about 6:45 p.m. outside a business near 450 West and 8990 South when the woman, 19, of West Valley City, decided she was done talking to him and walked away.

At the same time a 17-year-old girl driving southbound on 450 West noticed the couple arguing along the side of the roadway and slowed down to about 5 to 10 mph as a precaution, Quezada said.

As the teen tried to drive past, the man suddenly jumped from the side of the roadway onto the hood of her car, Quezada said. He said the man's head smashed into passenger-side roof and windshield, with enough force it cracked the windshield, and his body simultaneously bounced off the hood of the vehicle. He landed facedown on the roadway.

Quezada said the two 19-year-olds did not know the driver.

Quezada said the man was not pushed, and officers had no idea what possessed the man to leap onto a stranger's moving car. He said officers were hoping to interview the man after he recovered enough to speak to them.

He said the driver was not at fault and said her decision to slow down in the 35 mph zone likely saved the man's life. She won't be cited.