CEDAR CITY — The 22-year old man who led police on a high-speed chase from Cedar City to Parowan in May was sentenced to prison last week.
Richard Anthony Cubillo-Callahan pleaded guilty June 4 in 5th District Court to a total of eight charges in connection with the May 14 incident.
On Thursday, two days after accepting Cubillo-Callahan’s guilty pleas, Judge Keith C. Barnes ordered Cubillo-Callahan to serve a 1-to-15 year sentence for the most serious charge, a second-degree felony count of receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle. Cubillo-Callahan also received two 0-to-5 year sentences for third-degree felony counts of aggravated assault and failure to stop at the command of police. The sentences, along with jail time ordered for five additional misdemeanor charges, are to run concurrently, the judge ordered.
Several other misdemeanor charges were dropped, and the judge also waived more than $48,000 in fines, according to court records. The judge ordered Cubillo-Callahan be transferred to the Utah State Prison and begin serving his sentence immediately.
“This was a serious case and presented a very dangerous situation for the community,” Iron County Attorney Chad Dotson told Cedar City News. Dotson noted that Chief Deputy County Attorney Shane Klenk was determined to see that Cubillo-Callahan pleaded guilty to all of the felony counts “and was successful in achieving that.”
“We believe this was a successful outcome for Iron County and the state of Utah,” Dotson added. “One to 15 years in the Utah State Prison is appropriate, given the egregious conduct of the defendant.”
Cubillo-Callahan was arrested May 14 after leading police officers from multiple agencies on a chase that started on Main Street in Cedar City and ended on Interstate 15 some 20 miles away near Parowan. The incident had reportedly started with a confrontation between Cubillo-Callahan and other customers at a car wash located at 1160 S. Main St., police said.
Through a Government Records Access and Management Act request, Cedar City News obtained raw video footage of the chase taken from one of the pursuing police vehicles.
See the dashcam video in the media player at the top of this report.
The first clip shows police officers attempting to trap the suspect’s black pickup truck in the Cedar City Post Office parking lot with their vehicles, but the truck’s driver escapes by driving over the curb before beginning to head south to the intersection of Main and 200 North, then turning west onto 200 North and heading toward the entrance to I-15.
The second portion of the video was taken at the end of the pursuit, near mile marker 78 on northbound I-15, The video clip shows the suspect’s vehicle finally coming to a stop on the interstate, after which the shirtless driver exits the truck with his hands in the air. Several police officers are seen approaching with guns drawn as they moved to surround and secure the suspect in order to take him into custody.
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