Salt Lake City cops: Blood trail led them to thief's door

Police had little trouble hunting down a thief, thanks to the blood trail he left after breaking out a window of a northwest Salt Lake City gas station.

SLCPD says the 26-year-old male suspect used a metal bar to smash his way into the Chevron at 610 N. 300 West about 7:05 a.m. He then allegedly broke out two vending machines' glass covers and pilfered an unspecified number of items before fleeing.

An employee followed the thief as far as a nearby apartment complex and called police. Officers quickly spotted a blood trail — apparently from lacerations the thief sustained in the violent break-in — which led them to the suspect's door.

The man was taken into custody, treated for his unspecified minor injuries, and booked into the Salt Lake County jail. He was being held Tuesday in lieu of more than $5,000 bail on suspicion of second-degree felony theft and previous arrest warrants for numerous previous misdemeanor counts of theft, assault and forgery.

remims@sltrib.com

Twitter: @remims