Photo taken from video surveillance that captured the incident (cred. Utahzolanos)
SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah – A man is booked into jail for attempted murder after a bizarre attack in an apartment parking lot. Investigators say he admitted he was trying to kill a parked motorcyclist, believing he was a hitman trying to kill him.
You may have seen the security video making the rounds on social media. It shows a man in a vehicle speeding into a motorcyclist who was looking at his phone in a parking lot. The vehicle driver was later identified as Kenneth Eugene Cordova.
Surveillance footage at the apartment complex captured the entire scene.
WARNING: The following video contains graphic content that may be disturbing to some viewers.
The video posted on the Utahlozanos Instagram page shows the victim slammed against the windshield, then hit the roof before being launched into the air. The motorcyclist wasn’t seriously injured, but Unified Police Sgt. Melody Cutler says the victim is lucky to be alive.
“He lifted his leg that was facing the car as it was coming towards him, which ultimately, probably, really saved his leg. It probably, very well could have saved his life,” she said.
Had the victim not lifted his leg, Cutler believes he would have gone under the car.
“He would have been pinned against the motorcycle instead of being launched into the air,” she said.
The video also shows Cordova got out of the vehicle and started attacking the victim. The probable cause statement says the victim described Cordova as having “a look of hate on his face.”
Cutler says the victim had no idea who Cordova was.
“He told us that in his mind he was thinking, ‘Does this guy think I’m someone else?’ He took off his helmet to try and show [Cordova] that it wasn’t whoever he thought it was,” Cutler said.
When police interviewed Cordova, he reportedly admitted he was trying to kill the motorcyclist. The probable cause statement says he believed the victim was planning to kill him since there has been a hit on his life since 2009. He also told investigators the victim was armed, but Cutler says there is no evidence of that.
“That idea that our victim was about to kill him just doesn’t make a lot of sense,” she says.
Investigators say Cordova is a multi-state offender with a history of violent crime. They believe Cordova would flee if he was released on bail.