WASHINGTON COUNTY, Utah, Jan. 2, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — A man is facing four third-degree felony charges of aggravated assault with a weapon after he allegedly fired shots at a truck in Washington County that got near his RV.
Daniel Trent Patterson, 32, has been charged for the incident that allegedly occurred in the Warner Valley area of Washington County on New Year’s Day, according to a probable cause statement from the 5th District Court in St. George.
The arresting officer wrote in the probable cause statement that he responded to an attempt-to-locate for a truck that almost ran into another truck, that was parked near an RV. The latter truck and RV belongs to Daniel Patterson.
“The reporting person, Daniel Patterson, said he feared for his safety as well as his girlfriend’s,” the probable cause statement said. “Daniel said the truck was heading in his direction and when it was about 150 feet away, he fired several warning shots.”
As the vehicle turned away from him he fired several more shots, hitting the back of the truck, the statement said.
“He said he intended on only hitting the body of the truck to let them know to leave him alone,” the statement went on. “He then fired several more shots hitting the truck as it passed by. According to Daniel, the vehicle stopped and there was movement and he thought they were possibly grabbing for a weapon so he fired again wanting to put as many rounds into the back of their truck in hopes that would scare them off and make them leave faster.”
Patterson said he did not know how many occupants there were nor did he see any weapons.
The officer then spoke with the four occupants of the truck who said they drove past Patterson’s truck and RV to get to a road that was behind it so they could hunt some rabbits down in the valley.
After about an hour they were on their way back, and they came up the road from the other side.
“As they got up the hill they were heading in the direction of the RV, which was in front of them,” the statement said. “They then saw a guy get out of his truck and start shooting at them. They were trying to get out of there by turning away from him to the right when he continued to fire off rounds hitting the truck. They tried to make it the main road so they sped up to get away from him.”
When they got on the main road, past the RV, they slowed down to take their truck out of four wheel drive, the statement said. When they stopped, the suspect allegedly stopped shooting, then reloaded his gun and started shooting again. They said Patterson then got into his truck and chased after them.
Two officers observed what appeared to be bullet holes in the driver side tail light and the driver side rear window pillar of the victims’ truck. This bullet hole was only inches away from the glass where the rear passenger was seated, the statement said. The rear driver side tire was also flat and had a possible bullet hole.
Based on statements, evidence collected, and the location of the RV in relation to the vehicle and where the shots were fired, it was determined that Patterson was not in imminent danger and was not justified in using deadly force. Patterson was arrested and charged; then booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility, with his bail set at $10,000.
With a flat tire how could they out run the guy who was chasing them down? The story dose not make sense. I am sure they were up to no good, why would a man who’s 32 just start shooting randomly.