Early morning burglar pulls gun on Santa Clara resident

SANTA CLARA — A Washington City man was arrested early Sunday morning after burglarizing vehicles in Santa Clara and threatening a local resident with a handgun.

Just before 3 a.m., a Santa Clara resident was awakened by a noise in his driveway, Chad Holt, public information officer for the Santa Clara-Ivins Police Department said. Looking out his window, the resident saw a man in his driveway looking into his cars. He yelled out the window at the suspect, who left the driveway.

The resident went outside and confronted the man, who was trying to break into other vehicles on the block, Holt said. The man then pulled a gun on the resident, who walked away and contacted police.

An officer found the man, later identified as Keith Bergman, of Washington City, burglarizing a car about a block away and attempted to stop him.

bergman
Booking photo of Keith Bergman, who was arrested by Santa Clara Police Sunday May 3, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Department for St. George News.

According to the probable cause statement filed in support of the arrest, Bergman initially refused to stop for the officer but was apprehended.

Officers found a loaded .22-caliber handgun on Bergman and noticed a strong smell of alcohol around him, Holt said. They then discovered alcohol in his backpack.

Washington County Attorney’s Office filed charges against Bergman Monday, including: aggravated assault using a weapon, a third-degree felony; using a concealed weapon in commision of a violent felony, a second-degree felony; and seven misdemeanor charges including vehicle burglary, failure to stop at an officer’s command, interference with an arresting officer, and alcohol-related offenses.

His initial appearance was Monday afternoon at which time Michael Lastowski of St. George was appointed as his attorney. Bergman remains in jail with bail set at $30,000 and first roll call appearance scheduled for May 11.

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

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

 

 

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