Duo evades police, crashes through gate; armed homeowner holds them until troopers arrive

Stock image | St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Two men trying to evade troopers Sunday crashed into a gate and ran into a homeowner’s yard in Leeds. The armed homeowner held the two until troopers arrived to arrest the pair.

Spencer Perez, booking photo | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Jake Hicks said Spencer Perez and Richard Borunda, both of Fredonia, Arizona, were traveling southbound on Interstate 15 Sunday when a trooper tried to initiate a stop just before noon.

“The traffic stop was just for speeding,” Hicks said. “When the trooper tried to catch up to pull them over for speeding they took that exit into Leeds.”

The pair took several quick turns to try to lose the trooper.

“It wasn’t ever really a ‘pursuit,’ per se,” Hicks said. “He was trying to catch up to them to pull them over and they were just trying to avoid him.”

The pair ended up taking a turn onto East Roundy Mountain Road, which the trooper knew was a dead end. He sat at the intersection, waiting for them to come back.

“They drove down there and crashed into a homeowner’s gate, which alerted the homeowner that something was going on outside,” Hicks said. “He went outside to check it out, saw two guys he didn’t recognize. He didn’t hold them at gunpoint, per se, like you would imagine the police would. But he was armed and told them to stop.”

Richard Borunda, booking photo | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

Troopers arrived less than a minute later and arrested the pair without further incident. Perez was booked into the Purgatory Correctional Facility on charges of speed, reckless driving, evading a law enforcement officer, criminal mischief and various drug- and registration-related charges, while Borunda was arrested on drug charges.

“The citizen did an excellent job of keeping calm and calling 911,” Hicks said, “and holding those guys at bay.”

This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

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2 Comments

  • desertgirl October 30, 2017 at 7:06 pm

    Citizens using guns safely and with positive purpose.

  • Icomments2 October 30, 2017 at 8:18 pm

    What law abiding citizens using guns and NOT killing anyone? What is going on here? That’s horrible, what an awful story! (Full sarcasm) lol

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