WEST VALLEY CITY — A man who police say let his wife fall from a moving vehicle and then continued on to work has been arrested.

"The initial call we got was an auto-pedestrian accident. People thought she was hit. She was rolling down the street," said West Valley Police Lt. Bill Merritt.

Rafael Bernal, 49, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of aggravated assault with a vehicle.

The incident happened about 1 p.m. Thursday. A couple was driving and got into an argument over finances, Merritt said. At one point, the wife, who was driving, apparently had enough, pulled over and got out near 3200 West and 250 West, he said.

The argument continued, however, and became physical. The husband punched his wife a few times, Merritt said.

At that point, both parties decided they were going to take off in the car without the other and dashed for the vehicle. The man won, got in the driver's seat and started to drive off with his wife very close to the vehicle.

"We don't know if she's partly in the car, hanging onto the side," Merritt said.

After driving a short distance, the woman either fell out or off after clinging to the door, hit the pavement and rolled, he said. She was taken to a local hospital in fair condition. Detectives on Friday were still investigating whether the woman was pushed out by her husband. There were streak marks on the window, Merritt said, where the woman had been trying to hang on to the vehicle.

During the entire episode, a third person, a severely mentally challenged relative who cannot talk, was in the back seat. He was not injured.

Officers arriving at the scene went to the husband's cabinet business and found the car parked in front. Inside, Bernal was conducting business as usual and threatened the officers to get out of his business, Merritt said, and then called his attorney.

Bernal was then placed under arrest.

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