Police apprehend reckless driver with gas hose hanging from car in Hurricane
ST. GEORGE — A driver reportedly weaving and swerving along State Street in Hurricane with a gas hose hanging from the car was spotted by an officer who happened to be in the right place at the right time Friday afternoon.
The driver, Stephen R. Chapman, of St. George, was apprehended and then booked into the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility on charges of DUI and reckless driving.
The incident began at about 1:30 p.m. when the St. George 911 Communications Center began receiving calls reporting a driver in a red Chevrolet passenger car heading west on State Street that was swerving and driving erratically, Hurricane Police Officer Ken Thompson said.
According to a witness, the man pumped gas at the Maverik Adventure’s First Stop store on 200 W. State Street and then drove off with the hose still attached to the car.
An “attempt to locate” notification was broadcast out to all officers in the area to be on the lookout for a Chevrolet with a gas hose in tow.
Minutes later, a St. George Police officer who was in the area after returning from the county jail spotted the car on the Interstate 15 on-ramp at mile post 16 and got behind the vehicle to initiate a traffic stop.
Meanwhile, additional police units from Hurricane City Police Department, Washington City Police Department and Washington County Sheriff’s Office reached the on-ramp just after the driver, later identified as Chapman, pulled the car over.
Thompson said Chapman did not initially comply with the officers’ commands and appeared extremely agitated.
“The driver refused to show his hands for a little while,” Thompson said. “But he was eventually taken into custody.”
The Chevrolet was impounded subsequent to the arrest, and Chapman was transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility where he remains on $2,100 bail at the time of this report.
This report is based on statements from police 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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A gas pump is out of order after a man allegedly drove off with the gas hose still attached to his vehicle, Hurricane, Utah, Dec. 23, 2018 | Photo by Ron Chaffin, St. George News
A St. George man is arrested after officers spotted his vehicle with a gas hose still attached on State Street in Hurricane, Utah, Dec. 21, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Joseph Ribbens, St. George News
Multiple agencies respond after calls to 911 report a reckless driver on State Street in Hurricane, Utah, Dec. 21, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Joseph Ribbens, St. George News
Stephen R. Chapman, of St. George, bookings photo posted Dec. 21, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News
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