WASHINGTON COUNTY, Utah, Jan. 18, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — A man has been arrested after he allegedly fled in a stolen car following two burglaries in Washington County, then rammed a patrol vehicle Sunday night, police say.
A probable cause statement from the 5th District Court of St. George said Khiare Terrell Taylor, 26, was arrested just after midnight and is facing charges of:
- Receive or transfer stolen vehicle, a second-degree felony
- Burglary, a second-degree felony
- Fail to stop or respond at command of police, a third-degree felony
- Aggravated assault, a third-degree felony
- Failure to stop at command of law enforcement, a class A misdemeanor
- Burglary of a vehicle, a class A misdemeanor
- Interference with an arresting officer, a class B misdemeanor
- Accident invoking property damage, a class B misdemeanor
- Reckless driving, a class B misdemeanor
- Drive on suspended or revoked license, a class C misdemeanor
On Sunday at approximately 8:50 p.m., officers were dispatched to a residential burglary that had just occurred in Chama Court in Washington, Utah, the statement said.
“Upon arrival I spoke with the victims who stated that they had been home and had just gone out for a walk and were gone for approximately 15 minutes. They stated that as they left the residence they saw an African American male walking down the street,” the statement said.
They did not recognize the man, according to the statement. The victim stated that they returned home and found their front door ajar and several lights off that they had left on. They stated that as they were arriving home that they saw a black passenger vehicle with damage to the back bumper that they did not recognize leaving their cul-de-sac.
As the officer was on scene he heard another officer state that he was out with a car that matched the description of the stolen vehicle at the Green Springs Golf Course, approximately four to five blocks away from the victim’s address, the statement said. The officer claimed he was able to determine that the vehicle was stolen out of Nevada via the VIN number.
The arresting officer said he then saw a man running from the neighborhood of the victim and enter the golf course, according to the probable cause statement.
“As I investigated I saw a male exit some trees that were right in the area where I saw the male running and start to run at a dead sprint toward the stolen vehicle,” the statement said. “The suspect ignored several lawful orders to stop from myself and another officer that were pursuing on foot.”
The suspect was able to make it to the stolen vehicle and drive away, the statement said. The arresting officer and another officer entered a patrol vehicle and attempted to make a traffic stop. The suspect failed to stop and continued to evade officers.
“The suspect ran the stop sign at Fairway Drive and Green Springs Drive and rammed another occupied Washington City patrol vehicle that had his emergency lighting activated and was attempting to stop the suspect vehicle,” the statement said. “The suspect evaded from the scene of the traffic collision and continued northbound on Green Springs. The suspect had two patrol vehicles with our emergency equipment activated behind him and he failed to stop.”
The suspect was driving without any lights on, the statement said. The initial patrol vehicle performed a PIT maneuver and the suspect vehicle spun around and came to rest on the sidewalk. As officers gave commands to the driver to stop and exit the vehicle, the suspect was trying to drive forward, the statement said. Officers had to break the two passenger side windows with batons and physically tell the suspect at gunpoint to stop driving. Officers then were able to extract the suspect from the vehicle where he was taken into custody without incident.
After the suspect was in custody, the arresting officer was advised that there was a second burglary in the same neighborhood.
“I met with the victims who stated the suspect who had the same description as the male that we had arrested, had entered their home from the garage that was open,” the statement said. “They stated they had found that their vehicle had several items missing from inside. They stated that the male then entered their residence and tried to pick up their iPad. They stated that they were able to get the iPad back before he left. The victims stated the the suspect had told them not to call the police.”
Taylor was found to have a revoked license out of Nevada; he was on probation or parole at the time of the crimes.
He was transported to Washington County Jail, where he is being held without bail.
