OREM, Utah, June 9, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A 31-year-old Orem man was ordered jailed without bail Saturday after police say he was driving away from a fireworks show and didn’t want to follow the instructions of the officer directing traffic.
And police say he kept on being disagreeable after that.
Mitchell Delynn Scott was driving his white truck when the officer directed him to drive straight, in an attempt to maximize traffic flow, his affidavit says. Scott, who had tried to turn left/south, turned right.
The same truck approached the officer a few minutes later, still trying to go south because “he lived right by there,” the Orem police statement says. “I told him he would have to go around.
“The driver then tried to drive past me and as he neared me and failed to turn as directed I slapped his mirror to get his attention. I again told him he needed to turn right.
“At this time while I was standing next to the driver door the driver turned in my direction and accelerated. I had to move to avoid being struck by the vehicle. It did not seem like the driver was intentionally trying to run me over but that he was indifferent to my safety by making this turn and accelerating in such close vicinity to my person.
“I yelled at him to stop and he failed to do so. I was in a full police uniform and standing in close proximity to my marked police motorcycle with flashing red and blue lights activated. I stopped the driver and told him to show me his hands.”
The officer told Scott to turn off his engine, “which he eventually did.”
The officer told Scott first that he was being detained, and later that he was under arrest, the affidavit says, “To which he said ‘no I am not.’ He was ordered out of the vehicle and he refused to do so. He also was reaching toward his waistband. He stated that he was just getting his wallet.”
Scott was removed from the vehicle, taken to the ground and cuffed, his affidavit says. Scott was found to have a handgun on his person, in a holster concealed at his waist. It was loaded with multiple bullets, with one in the chamber.
Another officer detected the odor of marijuana and saw a glass pipe with residue on the truck seat. Scott had physical symptoms consistent with recent drug use, the affidavit notes.
Officers also found synthetic urine, which Scott said he was going to “use to get a job.”
Scott was arrested for investigation of:
- Category II restricted person transaction — firearm, a third-degree felony
- Failure to stop at command of law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor
- Reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor
- Interfering with a peace officer, a class B misdemeanor
- Possession of a controlled substances marijuana/spice, a class B misdemeanor
- Refusing a chemical test, first offense in 10 years, a class B misdemeanor
- Use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor
