SOUTH OGDEN, Utah, Jan. 16, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A 27-year-old Roy man was arrested Saturday after he allegedly chased an Ogden Walmart shopper through a parking lot with a machete, and later argued with a fast-food worker at a South Ogden drive-thru and was barred from entering the restaurant because he was carrying the machete.
Officers were called at 3:39 p.m. Saturday and responded to the Popeyes chicken franchise at 3920 S. Wall Ave., South Ogden.
“It was reported a male … was at the drive thru speaker arguing with an employee. It was then reported that (the man) went to the window where the argument continued and (he) was told to leave,” the man’s probable cause statement says.
“Dispatch updated me and advised that the male was currently trying to get into the business at the front doors while carrying a machete. Other officers and I arrived in the area and conducted a felony stop on his vehicle where he was taken into custody without incident.”
Ogden police had responded just prior to an incident in which a person was chased through a Walmart parking lot with a machete, the statement says.
Post Miranda, the suspect told South Ogden Police officers he “did get into an argument with the employee at Popeyes because she was being rude. He stated that he tried to go inside and order food but found the doors were locked, so he left. (He) denied threatening anyone or even having the machete with him when he attempted to go into the business.”
The Popeyes worker told the officer the suspect was being rude while ordering food, and was told he would not be served. The suspect “then began to argue and cut several people off in the drive thru to go to the window,” the probable cause statement says.
“The victim argued with (the suspect) again and told him to leave before closing the window. The victim then observed (the suspect) coming to the front door while holding a large machete. The victim stated she was fearful enough to run past customers inside and lock the door to keep (the man) from coming in, believing he would harm someone if he was able to get inside.”
The suspect drove away but was stopped in front of a nearby furniture store to the west, RC Willey, by officers who located a large machete in the vehicle.
“He denied ever threatening anyone with it,” arresting documents say.
Police also interviewed a witness who said he had been in a vehicle driving next to the suspect’s, and who told officers about seeing the suspect “swinging a machete out the window at vehicles in the lane next to him as they traveled down the road.”
The witness reportedly called dispatch when he saw the suspect swinging the machete at Popeyes and trying to shake the door open, the statement says.
The suspect was charged with aggravated assault, a third-degree felony, in the South Ogden case.
In the Ogden case at the Walmart, at 1959 Wall Ave., which occurred a few hours prior to the second incident, the suspect was charged with aggravated assault/threat with show of violence/injure, a third-degree felony.
In the earlier case, the victim reported a man chasing him in the Walmart parking lot with a machete. The victim said the suspect spoke to him at the checkout and told him not to go anywhere. The suspect then retrieved a machete from his car, the Ogden City Police statement says.
“At this time, the victim stated he was already in his vehicle and saw the male approaching his vehicle with a machete. The victim stated that he then backed out and drove away while being chased by (the suspect) who was holding up a machete. The video evidence from Walmart shows exactly what the victim describes.”
The Ogden City Police statement notes that later suspect later denied having been at Walmart.
In both cases, the man has been ordered held without bail in the Weber County jail.
