UTAH COUNTY, Utah, March 15, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A Goshen man led an officer on a lengthy pursuit Thursday, then told him it was because “he was hungry,” according to court documents.
A probable cause statement from Utah County said Angel Santiago Escobedo, 28, is facing charges of:
- Aggravated assault, a third-degree felony
- Failure to respond to officer’s signal to stop, a third-degree felony
- Driving on a suspended/revoked/denied license, with prior conviction, a class B misdemeanor
- Failure to reduce speed when approaching an emergency vehicle, an infraction
On Thursday at approximately 6:20 p.m. the arresting officer was assisting other officers with two separate car crashes in close proximity, the statement said. One car crash was located just east of the intersection of 400 East and Main Street in the outside eastbound merge lane in Santaquin. The other crash was on the other side of the intersection on private property.
The arresting officer wrote in the statement he heard a motor rev up, and saw a silver GM pickup in the outside lane stopped at the light. When the light turned green, the GM pickup sped towards another officer’s patrol car that was assisting motorists in the merge lane, the statement said.
The arresting officer wrote in the statement he thought the GM pickup was going to hit the second officer’s patrol vehicle.
“The GM pickup had room to merge into the inside lane but kept traveling east towards the officer’s patrol car,” the statement said. “In the last second and with no time to spare the GM pickup swerved into the inside lane and passed the officer and the motorists he was assisting.”
The first officer got into his patrol vehicle and drove east on Main Street through the light at 400 East in Santaquin in an attempted to catch up to the GM pickup.
“I followed this vehicle onto northbound I-15 at the 244 mile marker,” the statement said. “I wasn’t able to catch up to the GM pickup until approximately the 247 mile marker. My emergency lights and siren were on already for the speed I was traveling at. I pulled behind the silver GM pickup still traveling northbound in the outside lane of traffic with my lights and siren on. The driver of the GM pickup made a lane change into the inside lane and sped up away from me passing another passenger car in the process.”
The GM pickup then changed lanes back into the outside lane and exited the freeway in Payson at the 800 South I-15 intersection.
The officer called for backup, and while doing this, the suspect, later identified as Escobedo, stuck his head out the window and yelled something, the statement said.
“Angel approached the light at 800 South exiting the freeway and turned east onto 800 South,” the statement said. “I still had my lights on but no siren as we stopped at the light located at 1270 West. The light was red and traffic was stopped in front of him. While at the light and with my siren off, I announced on my loud speaker for Angel to pull over once the light turned green and he was through the intersection.”
Escobedo yelled back at the officer to “leave him alone,” the statement said. “I repeated my commands a couple more times and the light turned green,” the statement said. “Angel was in the inside lane and proceeded east on 800 South through the intersection, speeding up in the process,” the statement went on. “Angel made no attempt to move into the outside lane or turn on a blinker to indicate he was going to stop.”
The suspect then continued eastbound to 500 West where he turned northbound, traveling in excess of 40 miles per hour in a 25 mile per hour zone until he stopped the vehicle at the intersection of 200 South and 500 West, the statement said.
The suspect then exited the vehicle and walked to the sidewalk on the west side of 500 West. The officer told the suspect to get on the ground, which he did not, then repeated the commands to get on the ground. The suspect yelled at the officer, then when the officer approached him with a Taser drawn and pointed at him “he postured up like in a fighting-type stance,” the statement said.
The officer Tased the suspect and he fell to the ground, where he was handcuffed.
“The only statement Angel made while in custody was he was hungry, which was the reason for not stopping,” the statement said.
Escobedo was transported to Utah County Jail with his bail set at $5,000.
