WEBER COUNTY, Utah, May 17, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A suspect was arrested in the early hours of Sunday after allegedly trying to ram an officer’s vehicle then run down two other officers in Weber County.
A probable cause statement from the 2nd District Court of Ogden said Hunter Spencer Robinson, 24, is facing charges of:
- Three counts of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony
- Reckless driving, a third-degree felony
- Failure to respond to officer’s signal to stop, a third-degree felony
- Intent to distribute a controlled substance, a third-degree felony
- Failure to stop at the command of law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor
- Failure to stop at the command of law enforcement, a class B misdemeanor
- Interference with arresting officer, a class B misdemeanor
- Use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor
- Failure to signal for two seconds, an infraction
The arresting officer attempted to initiate a traffic stop just after 1 a.m. on a silver Kia Soul for failure to signal two seconds prior to turning eastbound into the 400 block of 32nd Street from Washington Boulevard in Ogden, the statement said.
The driver, later identified as Robinson, turned off his vehicle lights and failed to stop, the statement said. Robinson then fled northbound in the 3100 block of Ogden Avenue, ran the stop sign at 31st Street and Ogden Avenue and continued north into the 3000 block of Ogden Avenue which dead-ends, the statement said.
“I attempted to block his vehicle in and had to put my vehicle in reverse in order to keep Hunter from ramming my vehicle,” the statement said. “I continued to pursue Hunter as a second officer attempted to apply stop sticks to spike Hunter’s tires. Hunter swerved directly toward the second officer, who had to run in the opposite direction in order to prevent himself from being run over.
“I continued my pursuit as Hunter ran numerous stop signs, red lights and drove against traffic, creating a hazard to the community.”
A third officer also attempted to apply stop sticks to Robinson’s vehicle, and the suspect again drove directly toward him. The third officer was almost struck by Robinson also and had to run in another direction to avoid being hit, the statement said.
“Assisting officers observed Hunter’s front passenger pointing in directions for Hunter to drive during the pursuit; Hunter would then drive that direction in order to avoid apprehension,” the news release said. “Hunter’s vehicle was spiked three separate times, all while eluding numerous marked patrol vehicles with their lights and sirens activated in attempts to get him to stop.”
A Utah Highway Patrol officer then performed a pit maneuver, rendering Robinson’s vehicle disabled.
“Hunter then got out of his vehicle and ran from officers on scene, despite numerous vehicles still chasing him with their lights and sirens on and multiple uniformed officers yelling for him to stop,” the statement said.
“Hunter had to be tackled to the ground and refused to put his hands behind his back and surrender. It took numerous officers several seconds, using numerous verbal commands to stop resisting and put his hands behind his back; officers used closed-hand strikes in order to subdue Hunter. Hunter was finally handcuffed and placed under arrest.”
During the pursuit, the arresting officer observed a beer can being thrown from the suspect vehicle. During an inventory of the vehicle, the officer allegedly located a distributable amount of a green leafy substance which had the appearance and odor consistent with marijuana. The marijuana was found with numerous empty plastic baggies and a digital scale with green residue on it along with some tin foil. The officer also located two other baggies with the same substance inside, and numerous empty plastic baggies and rubber bands.
The officer also located a small glass bulbous pipe with burnt residue inside that had the appearance consistent with a pipe used to ingest narcotics.
Robinson refused to speak with officers. The female passenger in the vehicle was interviewed after being read her Miranda rights. She was found to have four active warrants for her arrest and was subsequently charged on those warrants, along with obstruction of justice for allegedly helping Robinson in his evasion.
Robinson was also positively identified as the driver of the same vehicle that evaded South Ogden Police Department a week ago. He will also face charges related to that case.
The suspect was transported to Weber County Jail, where he is being held without bail.
