Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Salt Lake City, Utah

From the June 25, 2007 International Herald-Tribune:
SALT LAKE CITY: Authorities said a prison inmate out for a medical appointment wrested a gun from a corrections officer and killed him, then led police on a high-speed chase in a stolen sport utility vehicle before his capture at a fast-food restaurant.

Curtis Allgier, who wears a swastika and the words "skin head" on his heavily tattooed face, fired a shot in the Arby's restaurant that hit no one before a customer snatched the gun, Salt Lake City police Sgt. Rich Brede said.

"It sounds like he was heroic, even though he's being humble about it," he said of the 59-year-old customer.

...

Police pursuing Allgier placed tire spikes on Interstate 215, but he still was able to drive several miles (kilometers) before bailing out in the Arby's drive-thru lane, police said.

Police arrived at the eatery just as Shirley Smiley, 57, was outside after breakfast with her husband and son. She said she heard a "popping noise" from inside, and police yelled "Get down!"

About six other customers and three employees were inside the restaurant, Smiley said. At least one person was "struck with some object" but was able to walk out, bloodied around the head, Brede said.

Police did not identify the customer who wrested the gun from Allgier, saying he did not want to be identified.

KUTV identified the customer as Eric Fullerton.

"Everybody's calling me a hero. I'm not a hero," Fullerton told the TV station. "I just did what I had to do."

Allgier had been at the Utah State Prison in the Salt Lake City suburb of Draper on a parole violation. On June 14, he was sentenced to nearly nine years in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm but had not been transferred yet to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

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