SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Jan. 22, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — Police have released the name of the suspect who barricaded himself in a recreational vehicle Friday morning after allegedly threatening several people with a firearm.
Jacob Trudeau Mills, 32, is facing charges of:
- Aggravated assault threat w/show of force/violence – injury, a third-degree felony
- Possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a third-degree felony
- Obstruction of justice, a class A misdemeanor
Mills was taken into custody at 8:54 a.m., nearly seven hours after Salt Lake City police officers were notified of a reported assault with a weapon.
According to a probable cause statement filed in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake County, Mills approached several individuals who were parked in their car and threatened them with a firearm.
According to the arresting officer, the victims told him they were in their vehicle, parked in front of their apartment, when Mills opened the door and punched “ZM,” the son of one of the victims, in the face.
ZM’s father told the officer that Mills then pulled out a silver revolver and pointed it at them, saying “snitches get stitches.”
The father also told officers that “he knows Jacob because Jacob used to live in the apartment underneath them…and that he has been ‘bullying’ the whole neighborhood.”
The father also stated that Mills currently lives in a motor home that is parked on the street outside the apartment building.
Officers called out to the occupants of the motor home to come out, but they refused to exit, the probable cause statement says. They did open the door enough for the officer to “positively identify Jacob Mills and his wife…inside the motor home.”
Mills’ wife was taken away from the area for her safety when she walked outside, according to the affidavit.
When Mills continued to refuse to come out of the motor home, SWAT was requested, and after several hours of a standoff with SWAT and negotiators, Mills finally surrendered and was taken into custody.
“During the standoff, Jacob was seen throwing a holstered pistol out the door of the motor home. This pistol matched perfectly the victim’s description of the gun that was pointed at them,” according to the affidavit.
Investigators claim Mills waived his Miranda rights and admitted he had confronted the victims in their vehicle because he believed they previously attempted to burglarize his motor home. According to the statement, he also admitted to punching ZM and to drawing the pistol and pointing it at ZM’s father, but he told the officer he drew the pistol because ZM’s father produced a knife during the altercation.
“The victims in this case are extremely fearful for their lives,” according to the charging document.
“The arrested person is familiar with the victims’ residence and appears to have a violent criminal history as recent as several months ago,” the document states.
The document also says that Mills admitted being addicted to heroin and to using it daily “to combat pain from a previous injury.”
Early in December, Mills was charged with being in possession of a stolen check, the value of which was over $3,600, according to a probable cause statement in that case. He allegedly was trying to cash the stolen check at Check City when police were called, and he ultimately was charged with third-degree felony possession of forgery writing/device in that incident.
After being taken into custody following the SWAT standoff Friday, Mills was booked into Salt Lake County Jail, where he is being held without bail.
