ST. GEORGE — After an attempt to flee from police on foot failed, a Santa Clara man was arrested late Saturday night and faces multiple felony charges.
According to charging document filed with the 5th District Court, the incident began when a Santa Clara officer stopped a vehicle for running a stop sign. While speaking to the driver, the officer recognized the passenger, Brock Sudbury, 30, of Santa Clara, who had active warrants for his arrest.
As the officer was busy speaking with the driver outside of the car, Sudbury opened the passenger door and ran from scene.
The officer chased after Sudbury, yelling for him to stop, commands that went unheeded, the officer noted in the report. While warning the suspect that a taser would be deployed if he continued fleeing, Sudbury ran onto the driveway of a residence and fell, which is when the officer caught up to him and took him into custody.
Sudbury told the officer he ran “because he knew he had several warrants for his arrest,” the officer noted in the report.
The officer backtracked through the area where the foot pursuit took place and located a hollow pen with dark residue inside of it that tested positive for heroin, according to the report. In a backpack belonging to the suspect, a straw that tested positive for methamphetamine, a vape containing THC, several pills in a prescription bottle under someone else’s name and a baggie of what appeared to be methamphetamine were also found.
In addition to the substances, several financial cards that were in other individuals’ names, three of which Sudbury denied having any knowledge of, were also found inside the backpack. Sudbury was transported to the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility. He was booked on charges of felony evading and three counts of unlawful acquisition of a finance card, each a third-degree felony. He also faces misdemeanor drug and paraphernalia charges.
Sudbury had another recent run-in with police in May. According to charging documents filed with the court, the incident started when a patrol officer was flagged down by a woman at the Walmart store on Pioneer Road in St. George who said there was a man wearing all black walking through the parking lot carrying tools as he circled a number of cars, acting “very suspicious.”
The man, identified as Sudbury, was located shortly after and told police he was pulling a trailer and was looking for a ball hitch that would fit his vehicle, explaining that the one currently on the pickup was the wrong size. When the officer ran the trailer’s plate, it came back as registered to an individual with a different name and was later determined to be stolen.
While speaking with police, Sudbury reportedly told the officer that he took the trailer from a construction site and admitted that he didn’t know to whom the trailer belonged. Shortly after, he was transported to jail and was released the following month after posting bond.
A warrant was issued Sept. 9 after the defendant failed to appear for a scheduled hearing. That case is still pending.
Following Saturday’s incident, Sudbury remains in custody on $5,010 bail, as well as $15,500 in outstanding warrants.
This report is based on statements from police or court records and may not contain the full scope of findings. 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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