Ted Bundy's 1975 arrest location

This is the site where Ted Bundy was arrested in 1975.

It is located at 3500 South in West Valley City, Utah.

At the time, there was an old gas station on this lot.

These days, it is a Starbucks coffeehouse.

In the early hours of August 16, 1975, Utah Highway Patrol Sergeant Bob Hayward was sitting in his car doing paperwork when dispatch reported that officers had broken up a party in the area.

Moments later, three vehicles sped past him.

Suspecting the drivers were drunk teenagers fleeing the scene, Hayward decided to give chase.

His original plan was to drive west along Lemay Avenue and cut the cars off. However, in the heat of the moment, he mistakenly turned right onto Brock Street.

Frustrated, Hayward turned on his high beams and accelerated.

As he was driving up Brock Street, Bundy suddenly pulled out of one of the driveways in his Volkswagen Bug and sped away.

Hayward pursued Bundy in his green 1974 Plymouth Fury.

For the next five minutes, the two cars raced through the quiet residential streets of Granger until Bundy ran a stop sign and pulled out onto 3500 South.

After driving east for about 0.3 miles, he eventually pulled into an old gas station at the intersection of 3500 South and 2700 West.

When the cars stopped, Bundy jumped out of his vehicle and started walking toward the officer's Plymouth. However, Hayward quickly pulled out his .357 Magnum and ordered him to step back.

Once the situation was under control, he called for backup. When another trooper arrived at the scene, Hayward asked Bundy if he could look through his vehicle.

Bundy complied.

During the search, Hayward noticed a brown bag on the floor of the Volkswagen.

Inside were trash bags, rope, a ski mask, a makeshift mask made of pantyhose, a crowbar, and other tools. Moments later, Hayward opened the front trunk of the Bug and found a pair of new handcuffs crammed into the side compartment.

After seeing the items, the officers decided to arrest Bundy on suspicion of burglary. They had no idea that the bag was a "murder kit" and that the man in front of them had killed at least 18 young women.

By August 1975, Bundy's name was already circulating in law enforcement circles as a potential suspect in the murders and disappearances of several women in Washington.

Furthermore, Salt Lake County Deputy Sheriff Jerry Thompson noticed that Bundy and his vehicle matched the description of the suspect and car involved in the attempted abduction of Carol DaRonch from a shopping mall in Murray, Utah.

Within days, detectives in Washington received word that one of the men on their list of suspects had been arrested in Utah.

As a result, they immediately focused their attention on the law student.

Hayward's split-second mistake had led to the capture of one of America's worst serial killers.

This was not the last time Bundy was arrested. After escaping from prison in Colorado in 1978, he fled to Florida, where he murdered three women and a 12-year-old girl.

His final arrest occurred in Pensacola, Florida.