ST. GEORGE – A St. George man claimed he was “just helping the police” when he was arrested just before midnight Saturday for impersonating a police officer, brandishing a gun, and other felony charges.

Tyler Seth Goodman, 26, was arrested and charged with one first-degree felony for aggravated robbery, two second-degree felonies for receiving stolen property and concealing a weapon, six third-degree felonies for aggravated assault with a weapon, one class B-misdemeanor for impersonating an officer, and three class B-misdemeanors for warrants.

According to the probable cause statement filed by St. George Police Officer Cody Layton in connection with the arrest, officers responded to reports of a man, later identified as Goodman, following a woman and her son out of the 2450 East Park in St. George and brandishing a gun.

The woman said she was startled and nervous while he was behind them, according to charging documents, and that she thought she was going to get “shot in the back.”

“During a post Miranda interview with Tyler, he stated that when he made contact with (the witness) and her son, he made the conscious effort to show them the handgun, and to scare them so they would stay in their house,” Layton wrote.

A few moments after the original call, a call came in from another woman who said there was a man in her garage with a handgun.

The woman and three other people were in the garage of their home when they heard a knock on the garage door and a man announce he was the St. George Police Department. The man, later identified as Goodman, then entered the garage without permission. After Goodman asked the group for a beer, one of the men in the group asked to see Goodman’s ID. Goodman refused to show his ID so the man told him that he needed to leave.

Goodman started to leave and then pulled a handgun that he had concealed in his pocket, Layton wrote. One of the women saw the gun so she grabbed for Goodman’s arm. Goodman pushed her away and pointed the gun in the direction of all four people inside the garage.

Goodman then asked for a cigarette. As one of the men in the garage gave Goodman a cigarette, he was able to grab the gun away from Goodman. The man released the magazine and ejected the chambered round. At that time, police arrived on scene.

Goodman admitted to police that he had a firearm and said that there was another firearm at the 2450 East Park, Layton wrote in the statement. Tyler was transported to the park and led officers to a bag that contained a Smith and Wesson .357 Magnum revolver and a bottle of alcohol.

There were no injuries reported, St. George Police Department Sgt. Sam Despain said.

“We don’t necessarily know why he was doing this,” Despain said. “He claimed that he was just helping the police, I guess. We suspect that there’s some contributing circumstances with maybe alcohol involved with why he did what he did.”

Goodman was arrested and booked into Washington County’s Purgatory Correctional Facility. According to booking information, Goodman’s bail stands at $75,295.

“The aggravated assault – the reason that it’s aggravated is that when there’s a firearm involved, and he brandishes that and points that, that’s an aggravating circumstance,” Despain said.

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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