LEHI, Utah, April 21, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — An elderly man who was pulled over along I-15 near Lehi, but refused to cooperate with Utah Highway Patrol troopers, had to be Tased after a 3-hour stand-off along the freeway Wednesday night.
UHP Sgt. Todd Royce said the incident started just before 10 p.m. when a trooper pulled 76-year-old Ray Carlson over for a lane violation.
“After doing some checking, the trooper told Carlson he would have to impound his vehicle because his license was suspended,” Royce said. “He did not have valid insurance and his registration was expired.
“The man told the trooper he would not talk to him because of some issue over his constitutional rights. After realizing the man was not going to comply, and after his background showed he has a history of similar incidents, the UHP Community Emergency Response Team was called in to diffuse the situation.”
Royce said UHP impounds vehicles every day, and the reaction they received from Carlson is rare.
“For the safety of the public, we could not allow him to drive his vehicle away from the scene,” Royce said. “We blocked him in with our cars while our troopers and CERT teams attempted to get the man out of his vehicle.”
Royce said it wasn’t until CERT officers broke out the back window of Carlson’s truck and Tased him, that troopers were able to open the driver’s door and take him into custody.
Carlson was booked into the Utah County Jail on multiple charges including obstruction of justice, expired registration, driving on a suspended license and no insurance.
