ST. GEORGE — What started with a verbal altercation ended in an arrest when a man reportedly got into his SUV and attempted to hit a group of partygoers in Washington City early Saturday morning.
Shortly after 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, police received a call about an altercation taking place on 1100 East off Washington Parkway in Washington City, where a group had gathered in the street in front of an apartment complex.
According to the reporting party, a suspect had attempted to hit several people with his vehicle, police said.
Washington City Police Lt. Kory Klotz told St. George News that as soon as units rolled up to the scene, one man already had fled. Another suspect, who was reportedly intoxicated, attempted to leave but was detained by police before he could drive away. Another man was found passed on a lawn nearby.
Officers also found a man with a deep and long laceration to his right arm that was heavily bleeding. He was with another man who had been attempting to provide emergency medical aid until help arrived, according to a police report filed in support of the arrest.
Upon the ambulance’s arrival, the man with the arm wound was treated at the scene before being transported to St. George Regional Hospital for evaluation and treatment, Klotz said. And the partygoer who was helping the injured man rode along in the ambulance.
Officers then spoke to several witnesses who said a man, later identified as 27-year-old Aaron Felde, of Washington City, attempted to run them over with his SUV, a dark-green Nissan pathfinder, according to the police report. And while doing this, the suspect allegedly struck two other vehicles.
Witnesses said earlier that evening four men left a bar in St. George and ended up at a party where they were asked to leave. One of the men, Felde, reportedly told the others he was sober and offered to drive the group home. A second vehicle also left the party and followed in tow.
While en route, one of the men asked Felde to slow down, but he ignored the request and continued driving erratically, the report states. After being asked several times to pull over, Felde stopped near the complex on 1100 East, where other partygoers were outside. As one of the passengers went to get out of the SUV, Felde reportedly hit him.
A scuffle broke out between the two men, and then the suspect got back into the Pathfinder and sped forward toward the group “in an attempt to hit them with the car,” according to the police report.
Police say two of the men were struck by the SUV. One of the men pushed the third man out of the way and put his arm up just as the SUV lunged forward, which caused a deep laceration to his forearm.
“One guy went over the hood of the suspect’s vehicle, while two others squeezed out of the way,” Klotz said.
A verbal altercation ensued, which is when Felde started to back out. As he did so, he allegedly changed his mind and hit the accelerator.
The SUV lunged forward and struck the back of a Mazda “dead on,” Klotz said.
The Mazda was then pushed into a Toyota Tundra that pitched forward into the group standing in front of the truck. Had they not jumped out of the way, Klotz said, they likely would have been pinned in between the vehicles and seriously injured.
Despite his saying he was sober, the suspect was reportedly intoxicated, according to witnesses who reported seeing Felde drink “a half a bottle of vodka” at the party, the officer noted.
Another witness in the area was awakened by the fighting and told officers he looked out his window to see a dark-green vehicle back up quickly and then accelerate toward four people, where the SUV appeared to have “crushed” one of the men, while another was struck. The suspect then hit two parked cars before leaving the area, the witness said.
A cell phone later found at the scene assisted officers in identifying Felde as the driver of the Pathfinder. Investigators also located a single red shoe near the cell phone.
When investigators responded to the suspect’s residence, they found the dark-green Pathfinder with heavy front-end damage consistent with what investigators found at the scene.
Detectives also noticed swelling on the suspect’s left eye. When asked, the suspect reportedly said he was in an altercation earlier that morning and was not sure how he got home.
When the suspect was transported to the police station in Washington City for an interview, the report states he requested an attorney and all questioning ceased.
During a search of the Nissan, officers located a red shoe on the driver’s side floorboard that matched the shoe found at the scene on 1100 East And a records check later revealed that Felde had a suspended license out of Montana.
The suspect was transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility facing multiple charges, including four third-degree felony counts of aggravated assault. He also faces one misdemeanor count each of a collision involving property damage, failing to report a collision involving property damage, driving on a suspended license and intoxication.
Two other suspects also were arrested for misdemeanor offenses related to intoxication.
Klotz said the investigation into the incident continued into Saturday afternoon and involved multiple witness statements, trips to the hospital and bystander accounts. He also said an altercation that only took a few minutes impacted multiple individuals.
The investigation was hampered by the fact that officers had to rely on statements provided by individuals that were heavily intoxicated, said Klotz, adding that alcohol played a major role in the events that unfolded that night.
“From start to finish, this investigation was crazy,” he added.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders 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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