ST. GEORGE – A St. George man faces multiple charges of aggravated assault following incidents involving hitting a pedestrian with a car and holding a knife to a counselor’s throat.
A police officer was sent to the St. George city offices last Thursday to respond to reports of a hit-and-run incident that possibly involved a person experiencing a psychiatric episode.
Witnesses told police that a man was driving recklessly and at high speeds through the city offices’ parking lot.
“The male was seen crashing into the building after running over the curbs and into the landscaping of the parking lot,” the responding officer wrote in a probable cause statement. The driver was identified as 23-year-old Jordan Gee.
A woman who had pulled into the city offices’ drive-through had to quickly back out to avoid being struck by the car that just hit the building, the statement reads.
As Gee attempted to flee the parking lot in his car, a city employee followed on foot and tried to stop him. Gee allegedly placed the car into reverse and knocked the city employee to the ground, injuring his arm.
“The male again tried to leave the scene when he crashed into the curb and gutter which caused the car to get stuck,” the police officer wrote.
Gee had reportedly been upset about an appointment at a clinic during which he is alleged to have put “a large folding knife” to a counselor’s throat and threatened to take her hostage so the police would kill him.
He is also alleged to have threatened to kill the counselor and her family, according to the probable cause statement.
The police conducted sobriety tests and determined Gee “displayed enough clues showing impairment.”
Gee was initially charged with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, but that charge was later removed, according to court records.
Since his arrest, Gee has been charged with three felony counts of aggravated assault, a felony count of criminal mischief and misdemeanors related to threatening violence and being involved in a vehicle accident resulting in property damage.
Gee is being held at the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility. His next court appearance is set for Sept. 5.
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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