MILLCREEK, Utah, Dec. 5, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A man facing charges including kidnapping managed to give cops the slip early Saturday morning despite already being handcuffed. His dash to freedom proved short-lived, however, when he was found hiding on a nearby rooftop, police say.
Lt. Manfred Lassig of Unified Police Department told Gephardt Daily officers were called out on a welfare check about 1:40 a.m. after a domestic violence incident was reported near 1360 E. 1470 South.
Lassig said when police arrived, a male suspect, now identified as Wes James McMillian, 42, gave officers someone else’s name. Once it was determined he was likely lying, police say McMillian was handcuffed and taken into custody. The arresting officer then requested a unit with a fingerprint identification system to swing by the location.
While frisking McMillian, police say they found a bag of methamphetamine and two pipes. As he was being escorted to a waiting patrol vehicle, police say McMillian bolted and vanished into the surrounding neighborhood.
K-9 units were called in and police fanned out across several square blocks.
Within a matter of minutes dispatchers received a call from a resident just a few houses away from where McMillian managed to escape, saying they had heard a noise on their roof.
Police swarmed the location and found McMillian, who Lassig said had managed to slip the handcuffs from behind his back so they were in front of him. “He still had our bracelets on,” Lassig said.
The second attempt to arrest McMillian and transport him to the jail proved successful.
According to a probable cause statement filed in Salt Lake County’s Third District Court, McMillian now faces charges of escape from official custody, a third-degree felony; possession of a controlled substance, a second-degree felony; possession of drug paraphernalia, a class-B misdemeanor; and using false personal information with intent to be another actual person, a class A misdemeanor.
Lassig said an extradition order connected to an alleged kidnapping was already in place from a previous incident when police made contact with McMillian Saturday morning.
