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Man accused of shooting at an ambulance, starting a grass fire and stealing an ATV while leading police on multicounty chase

A man is accused of shooting at an ambulance and leading police on a chase through several Utah counties, where he also allegedly stole and crashed a four-wheeler, started a grass fire and pointed his gun at several people who tried to stop him.

The man, 32 — suspected of shooting at an ambulance on Interstate 15 in Utah County — was located by troopers in Wasatch County on Saturday, according to jail documents. The man drove away, leading police on a chase that troopers called off when they reached a construction zone, investigators wrote.

The man then went to East Canyon Resort in Morgan County, where witnesses said he lied to a passerby to convince that person to let him into a private, gated camping area, police wrote. The man rammed his car into a gate that was protecting campers’ ATVs, police wrote. He apparently used a multi-tool to start a side-by-side ATV, which he crashed not far from where it had been parked, police wrote.

The man then lit multiple Roman candles or flares, which started a grass fire, a Morgan County sheriff’s deputy wrote. The man got back in his car and tried to drive away, but a witness pulled his car into the road, blocking the man’s escape.

“The citizen reported the suspect pointed a gun at him, telling him to move, and firing a shot in the air,” the deputy wrote. “The citizen reported he told the suspect he would move, the suspect fired another shot, and the citizen moved out of the way.”

Witnesses locked the gate to the road, but the man “pointed the gun at them to make them get out of the way,” police wrote. Witnesses said he fired one to four shots, but investigators found only one casing in the area. The man “said he would kill anyone who tried to stop him” and then rammed the gate with his car, breaking it open, police wrote.

One of the witnesses took a picture of the man while he was pointing a gun, and investigators identified him as the man wanted on suspicion of shooting at the ambulance in Utah County, police wrote. Multiple police agencies launched a manhunt on the ground and by helicopter but could not immediately find the man. Troopers found him in Salt Lake County, at an I-15 on-ramp from 900 West. He was carrying marijuana and a gun, police wrote.

The man was booked into jail on suspicion of arson, aggravated assault, theft of a vehicle, possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and failure to stop for police, as well as several misdemeanors.

The man also faces unrelated pending charges of aggravated assault, domestic violence and theft of a county vehicle in Summit County, police wrote.