TREMONTON, Utah, Jan. 23, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — A 35-year-old trucker was arrested at a Tremonton fueling station after he allegedly beat a man over the head with a jagged-edged metal pipe in a fight over parking.
Danny Jerome Johnson faces a single count of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony, in the Thursday incident.
Johnson had left when officers from the Tremonton Garland Police Department arrived at the scene, the Golden Spike Travel Plaza.
“I made contact with the victim, who was still on scene. He had a cut on his left thumb, and the left side of his neck, near his left ear was swollen and had several small cuts on it,” says a probable cause statement filed by an TGPD officer.
“He advised that he was at the gas station to refuel the gas tanks, and the suspect was parked at the spot he needed to be in order to refuel. He said that he asked the driver to move his truck, and the other driver became belligerent and started arguing with him.
“He said that Danny reached over and grabbed a pipe from the steps leading to the cab of the truck, and started swinging it at him, hitting him multiple times.”
The officer also questioned two witnesses, “who both advised that they were at the gas station, and heard yelling. They looked over and saw two males, face to face yelling at each other. They advised that the individual later identified as Danny then started hitting the victim. One of the witnesses yelled at him to stop.”
The suspect reportedly returned to his truck and drove west on Interstate 84.
“Other officers were able to stop Danny on the freeway,” the probable cause statement says. “At first, he denied having stopped in Tremonton. Throughout the interview when confronted with more evidence, he provided more information, and admitted to having been in an altercation with the other individual.”
Johnson had a small cut on one of his fingers on his right hand. When asked about it, he claimed that he had cut it on a sharp piece of metal on his gas cap.
“We checked the gas cap, and there were no sharp spots,” the officer’s statement says. “We located the pipe he had allegedly used, and it had sharp edges on the end, and there was blood near the sharp edges.”
Johnson first denied using the pipe, the statement says, “but then admitted to having the pipe in his hand during the altercation after I spoke to him about the cut on his finger, and the blood on the pipe. He claimed that he may have hit the victim with the pipe as the other individual was swinging at him with his elbow.”
Johnson’s bail was set at $5,010.
