Littleton Teen Allegedly Pointed Handgun At Utah Police Chief

SALINA CITY, UT – A Littleton female teen runaway is in custody in Sevier County, Utah, after allegedly pointing a handgun at a police chief from a dumpster, following a high-speed chase on I-70 with two adult men from metro-Denver. A local citizen with a gun warned the police chief and held the girl at bay, police said. She dropped the gun and was shortly taken into custody, as were her two associates.

Eric Robert Somerville, 22 of Littleton and Sean Anthony Estrada, 31 of Westminster and the teen were arrested in Salina City Nov. 7, the Salina City police said in a press release.

Salina City Police Chief Al Taylor told Patch that around 12:45 p.m., the trio in a dark grey Infinity with Colorado tags, eluded a police stop by Utah Highway Patrol officers in neighboring Emery County, then and were chased at speeds up to 125 miles per hour westbound on I-70 until they pulled off onto the Salina City exit.

"There isn't another town around for 120 miles," Taylor said.

Taylor heads a four-officer force in the town of 2,551 residents, he said. The Infinity reportedly sped through town around 100 mph, chased by highway patrol officers and Taylor, who blocked off the car with his truck steps away from a local daycare center, he said. The three passengers fled on foot and Taylor chased two of them into an alley between the daycare center and a convenience store.

"At the daycare center, there were a handful of kids, maybe going home standing outside with some adults," Taylor said. "They were paralyzed. They froze until I started yelling for them to get away... I was terrified for those kids."

Taylor found Estrada in the alley, armed with a handgun and told him to drop his weapon, he said. "I've got a guy on the ground who still had a gun, because he slid the darn thing into his pocket instead of throwing it away," the chief said. "The girl had jumped into the dumpster, which is taller than I am. I had no idea she was in there. The corner of the dumpster was about two feet away from me."

Meanwhile a citizen driver of a truck had chased the car to the alley after he had been passed at high speed by the Infinity and thought the passengers threw something out the window at his vehicle.

"He yelled at her 'don’t shoot, don’t shoot,' and he pulled his gun out of his truck. She was just right above me and behind," Taylor said.

While Estrada lay on the ground, unrestrained, Taylor said the girl jumped out of the dumpster and started to flee, and he yelled for her to stop and then deployed a Taser, which knocked her down. Backup officers were able to take both into custody and Somerville was found about 30 minutes later in a local motel lobby, and arrested, police said.

A handgun was recovered from the dumpster, Taylor said. "There was one bullet in the chamber ... I got lucky that’s for sure, I had no idea she was there. I didn’t hear her over siren on my truck and [I was distracted by] the small daycare kids and another suspect who still had a gun."

Taylor said police recovered possibly stolen property was found in the Infinity, along with small amounts of methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana. Police told local TV station KSL that electronics, computers, wallets, personal information, marijuana and drug paraphernalia were recovered from the vehicle.

Among the items in the car was high-end photography equipment linked back to a professional studio in Grand Junction or Vail. The three may be sought by Castle Rock police for felony crimes there, Taylor said.

"We're working with those jurisdictions to see if there are any other felony charges that can be brought," Taylor said.

Estrada told police he is an eight-year military veteran who served two tours of duty in Iraq, Taylor said. The three fugitives were supposedly "driving to California to start a new life," Taylor said. Because of Salina City's isolated location and proximity to I-70, the police and local highway patrol officers stop lots of travelers on the "drug pipeline," Taylor said.

The two men are being held in the Sevier County jail and the teen was taken to a local juvenile facility, Taylor said. The girl's parents in Littleton were contacted, he said.

Image: Detectives work to process evidence following a pursuit [Nov. 7] that ended in Salina. Courtesy: Richmond Reaper. Used with permission.