ST. GEORGE —The defendant arrested by Utah Highway Patrol troopers last year appeared for sentencing in 5th District Court on Wednesday, Nov. 23. And the judge made it clear the Salt Lake City native was going back to prison – a fourth term the defendant will serve in Utah State Prison.
Javier Trejo Gutierrez, age 50, appeared in 5th District Court on multiple charges, including third-degree felony possession of a vehicle causing more than $500 in damage, as well as four misdemeanor charges that include an accident involving property damage, interfering with arresting officer, lewdness and DUI.
Gutierrez originally had faced nine charges that included reckless driving, one count of accident involving property damage, improper use of center lane and disorderly conduct – charges that were dismissed in exchange for a guilty plea.
During the hearing, District Judge Michael G. Westfall opened by telling Gutierrez he would be going to prison.
“You’ve been there before. You know what it’s like,” the judge said. “And, you’re going back.”
Westfall then sentenced Gutierrez to serve 0-5 years in Utah State Prison on the felony unauthorized use of a vehicle charge and also ordered the defendant to serve six months in jail on both class B misdemeanors that were ordered to run consecutively to one another as well as consecutive to the prison sentence.
On the remaining two misdemeanors, the judge sentenced Gutierrez to serve six months in jail on each that would run concurrently. once the defendant has completed his prison sentence, Westfall said, then he will be transported to Washington County to serve one year in jail.
The case was filed on Sept. 21, 2021, in connection with a stolen truck report that came in the previous day when a Utah Highway Patrol trooper was dispatched to state Route 18 near mile marker 20 north of Dammeron Valley in Washington County. The pickup truck was pulling a trailer at the time.
Emergency dispatch began receiving reports of a reckless driver heading north in a truck towing a trailer. The trooper canvassing the area in search of the suspect learned from a witness that a truck pulling a trailer heading north had veered into oncoming traffic.
The witness also said the driver lost control and went off the road, the trailer disconnecting as a result and rolling into the ditch on the east side of SR-18.
The witness also said as soon as the trailer came loose, the suspect got back on the highway and headed north. The witness also showed the trooper “a cell phone video of the driving pattern,” the report states.
A short time later, the trooper was notified of a rollover crash near Enterprise involving a pickup matching the description of the one they were looking for. But the driver, the report states, was no longer at the scene after he was picked up by a passerby who dropped the man off at the Sinclair gas station on East Main Street in Enterprise. From there, he had last been seen on foot heading east on SR-18 and the suspect was located near milepost 41 a short while later.
The man continued walking along the center of the highway away from the officer as police shouted orders for him to get to the ground, and according to the report, the suspect appeared “very aggressive” and was motioning obscene gestures at the trooper.
When backup arrived, the suspect started throwing rocks at both troopers’ patrol vehicles and then reportedly pulled down his shorts, exposing his genitals, at which point a taser was deployed, which struck the suspect in the abdomen and immobilized the man. He fell to the ground and was taken into custody by police.
More than five hours after the first call to 911, the suspect was arrested and transported to jail.
A background check revealed Gutierrez was driving on a suspended license and was out on parole on a 2016 conviction for stealing a Honda that was found by the Unified Police Department in September 2015.
The suspect fled from officers and was later arrested and told police he had stolen the Honda from an apartment complex two days earlier. One year later, Gutierrez was sentenced to serve 0-5 years in Utah State Prison and was placed on parole upon his release. He was still on parole when the incident on SR-18 took place.
During the hearing last week, Washington County prosecutor Lane Wood represented the state and opened by going over the details of the case. He said the defendant’s “very lengthy” criminal history that includes more than 30 cases resulting in convictions – more than half of which were juvenile crimes. The rest were crimes Gutierrez committed as an adult.
Those convictions resulted in four prison terms, the last of which included multiple parole violations after Gutierrez’s release in 2016.
Wood had this to say after reviewing the presentence report.
In closing, the prosecutor said that from the state’s perspective, the defendant has “squandered” significant opportunities to work on himself, and instead, Gutierrez “ran away and he picked up new charges.” With the facts of the present “egregious” case, he said, the only option left is to send the defendant to prison.
Gutierrez’s defense attorney, Derek Gallagher, told the court that his client was not perfect and that Gutierrez was certainly going through a bad period in his life. The attorney continued by saying that his client has continued to try, which is another consistent theme in Gutierrez’s life, even without the support of his family which has been absent until recently, Gallagher said.
Then, through some crazy circumstance, the attorney said, the defendant now has the support of his family, which is one of the reasons why his client was doing better until the incident last year. He also said that Gutierrez has always gone to prison, which became the only option, instead of sending him to some type of treatment that could help him.
Gutierrez said he has had a bad past. Explaining the incident, he said he had borrowed the vehicle, and while he was not trying to minimize or justify his actions, he had little family support until just recently. He also said that he realized that he “messed up” and asked that he be placed on probation, in lieu of prison, and then he promised to follow the terms of his probation.
“I am at the mercy of the courts,” he added.
During sentencing, Westfall said his decision to send the defendant to prison was based on multiple factors, including the gravity of the charges, the defendant’s behavior and the number of victims involved, as well as the history and character of the defendant.
The judge closed by addressing Gutierrez, saying, “At some point, you’re going to realize that you don’t like doing this anymore, and you don’t like going to prison anymore,” he said, adding that if Gutierrez continues to behave that way in which he did when the officers confronted him, “then I’m going to see you again.”
The order to transport the defendant to Utah State Prison was signed during the hearing.
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