Law enforcement vehicles parked off of a road, lower right, in Juab County on Wednesday, September 14, 2011. The Juab County Sheriff's Office has had two unattended patrol vehicles stolen in the past year. When a car passed two Juab County deputies last May, traveling 10 mph slower than the 80mph speed limit, they noticed the driver seemed to be trying to hide his face.
The pursuit culminated in a shootout with police near the state park. Bullets pierced police vehicles and debris whizzed past troopers. One of the trooper’s rounds struck Klein in the leg. He was taken into custody hours later, hiding in a riverbed. “The driver’s body language seemed unusual and not commonly observed as to what I would consider normal from my training and experience,” Hurst wrote in a police report. “Individuals displaying this type of behavior are likely to be engaged in some illegal activity.”
“As Trooper Griffiths agreed and turned around, he stated the male was stealing my patrol vehicle,” Hurst wrote. “I turned around and observed Klein in the driver seat of my patrol vehicle as it accelerated at a high rate of speed away.”Klein lost control of the vehicle about a minute later, as Griffiths and another Highway Patrol trooper followed him. In the ensuing shootout, Klein allegedly fired first, at 4:19 p.m.
Griffiths screamed, waving for the SUV driver to “go, go go.” Klein tried to open its driver’s side door, pointing the rifle through the window at the man and woman and threatening to shoot if they didn’t give him a ride, according to a probable cause statement. Klein was charged with 12 felonies in Utah’s 4th District Court in connection with the alleged theft and shootout, including four counts of attempted aggravated murder. He faces drug trafficking and weapons charges in federal court.
The sheriff’s office has denied requests for internal affairs and disciplinary records related to the shootout, arguing that their release would jeopardize Klein’s chances for a fair trial. The case is scheduled to go before the State Records Committee in April; Klein’s federal jury trial is currently slated for May.In the latest case, two guns were left inside the unattended Juab County patrol vehicle that was stolen early March 8, according to a news release.