Road rage escalates at Motel 6, arrest of one with a gun

ST GEORGE – A road rage incident involving several cars and six people resulted in a fight breaking out in the parking lot of Motel 6 in St. George Saturday evening. During the fight weapons were pulled including a bat, and a firearm.

Around 7:15 p.m. St. George City Police Department responded to a report of a road rage incident in the area of 1000 East and Red Hills Parkway in St. George.

“Two pickup trucks, and a passenger car were involved in the incident,” said Officer Derek Lewis of the St. George Police. “They pulled off into the Motel 6 parking lot where the fight broke out.”

The fight involved four adult men, and two adult women, Lewis said.

Austin Howell, Hurricane Utah, July 12, 2014 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News
Austin Howell, of Hurricane, booked into Washington County’s Purgatory Correctional Facility, Hurricane, Utah, July 12, 2014 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

“At one point during the fight a baseball bat was pulled out,” Lewis said. “At another point a firearm was produced by Austin Howell.”

Howell, 26, of Hurricane was arrested on scene. Howell was the only person arrested as a result of the incident, however another person involved was issued a citation and a vehicle was impounded.

“Howell also, during the fight, proceeded to get into the victim’s car, taking his car keys, as well as two $100 bills from the victim’s wallet,” Lewis said.

There were some superficial injuries, Lewis said, but no one was transported to the hospital.

Howell was booked into Washington County’s Purgatory Correctional Facility on charges of aggravated assault in the use of a weapon, a third-degree felony; vehicle burglary, a class-A misdemeanor; theft under $500, a class-B misdemeanor; reckless driving, a class-B misdemeanor; disorderly conduct (fighting, violence, or threatening) an infraction; and threatening the use of a weapon in a fight, a class-A misdemeanor.

According to Washington County booking information, Howell’s bail in total was set at $8,969; as of Monday, he has been released.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Related posts

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2014, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

15 Comments

  • St. George Resident July 14, 2014 at 11:06 am

    “The fight involved four adult men, and two adult women, Lewis said.”

    Sound more like a bunch of spoiled brat children to me.

    • Koolaid January 25, 2015 at 9:33 pm

      Four men and 2 women in two trucks and a car get into a fight at a motel. Some of Dixie’s finest. Imagine the citations if they had been dancing? Wow! They dodged some serious fines by fighting instead!

  • JOSH DALTON July 14, 2014 at 12:06 pm

    sounds more like somebody got shorted a gram…

  • EL JEFE July 14, 2014 at 12:51 pm

    I just hate it when someone takes a baseball bat to a gunfight.

  • Mark July 14, 2014 at 3:09 pm

    Those … illegals!
    Ed. ellipsis

  • anothermom July 14, 2014 at 5:05 pm

    Adults acting like children and here we not only give them a license to drive but a license to carry a gun. See it’s not the fault of the gun; it’s the adults being idiots holding the gun!

  • Festus July 14, 2014 at 5:50 pm

    People be cray cray…

  • st george resident July 14, 2014 at 6:16 pm

    First of all, no … gun was pointed at the so called victim the whole situation started when the guy who drove the car almost hit the truck with a 3 month old baby in it! He endagered a child’s life! The so called victim is not a … victim at lo he should of went to jail for knocking the guy who had the baby in the truck out! Their innocent until proven guilty! Stop bad mouthing!
    Ed. ellipsis.

    • anna thomas July 15, 2014 at 12:23 pm

      Guess you were there ? I don’t care what started it, if you have a child in the car you don’t take matters into your own hands. You get a license plate number, a description of the car and call the police. Everyone involved is guilty of being an idiot.

      • st george resident July 15, 2014 at 1:04 pm

        Your funny pretty sure the car didn’t have a license plate at all if you would have been walking by and seen the car.

      • Mean momma July 15, 2014 at 2:31 pm

        You are absolutely right! Who in their right mind pulls over to engage in an altercation when you have a baby in the car? Total, complete morons!

  • My Evil Twin July 15, 2014 at 11:26 am

    Dirt bag vs dirt bag, no human beings involved. . .

  • .... January 25, 2015 at 8:25 pm

    He cares so much about this three month old baby enough to pull out a gun on a stranger but doesn’t care enough about his own children to pay child support ha

    • Koolaid January 25, 2015 at 9:30 pm

      Dixie guys can’t afford child support. Those guns they have a right to own (and that Obama is going to take) cost a lot of money. So do big trucks.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.