RIVERTON — A Riverton police sergeant was legally justified in shooting and killing a hit-and-run suspect armed with a knife following a Fourth of July fireworks show in Riverton last year, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced Friday.
About 11:20 p.m. on that day, Ryan Patrick Ludeman, 44, was driving a 2016 Arctic Cat Wildcat side-by-side vehicle when he was involved in a hit-and-run crash near 1300 West and 12800 South. Ludeman denied having anything to drink and refused field sobriety tests, according to the final report released Friday by Gill.
Just before midnight, Ludeman again refused to do a sobriety test. Riverton Police Sgt. E.J. Estrada told Ludeman he wanted to do the tests to make sure he was good to drive.
“Nope,” Ludeman told him.
Estrada then told Ludeman he smelled like alcohol, the report states.
“Sure,” Ludeman responded.
Ludeman was sitting on a curb at this time and refused police commands to stand up.
When officers attempted to arrest Ludeman, he “immediately produced a knife and ejected its blade,” the report states. “A brief and dynamic struggle ensued during which Sgt. Estrada drew his handgun and fired at Mr. Ludeman three times.”
An officer who was present during the arrest said Estrada immediately yelled, “He’s got a knife.”
“It happened really fast,” the officer continued. “(Estrada) was standing, and (Lundeman) was kind of on his knees, from what I remember. Almost like if you’re wrestling, you’re going to take out somebody’s knees.
“It seemed like (Estrada) was trying to back off and went to gun, and fired at him, and then he just dropped right there,” the officer said.
Estrada declined to be interviewed for the investigation.
An autopsy determined Ludeman was shot in the head and twice in the neck.
“Review of body-worn camera recordings indicate that Sgt. Estrada fired his weapon about five seconds after he began asking Mr. Ludeman to put his hands behind his back,” according to the report.
Gill is holding a press conference to talk about his office’s conclusions and to show videos of the incident.
This story will be updated.
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