Utahn charged with attacking police dog trying to arrest him

Utahn charged with attacking police dog trying to arrest him

(Scott G Winterton, KSL, File)


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TAYLORSVILLE — A man accused of attacking a police K-9 trying to apprehend him now faces felony charges.

Bobby Jay Ridgeway, 27, unknown address, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with robbery, a first-degree felony; injuring a police K-9, a third-degree felony; and failing to stop at the command of a police officer, a class A misdemeanor.

On Sept. 26, police say Ridgeway and two other men approached a vehicle parked in a convenience store parking lot, 4110 S. Redwood. Ridgeway punched out the driver’s side window and took an unopened bottle of alcohol from the driver who was sitting in the car, charging documents state.

“Shut up or I will kill you,” Ridgeway told the driver, according to the charges.

A Unified police officer happened to be parked across the street and observed the confrontation. The officer followed the three men, who drove away, and pulled them over near 800 West and 3900 South. When the car stopped, Ridgeway got out and ran, the charges say.

A police K-9 was deployed in the area and found Ridgeway a short time later hiding behind a large bush, the charges state, and when Ridgeway refused to come out from his hiding spot, K-9 “Cash” was sent in to get him.

Ridgeway “grabbed Cash by the head, squeezing Cash’s head and pulling Cash’s face,” according to charging documents.

Police were eventually able to take Ridgeway into custody. Cash was treated for cuts on his head and near his right eye.

Prosecutors requested Ridgeway be held on $250,000 bail.

In 2018 he was convicted of being a restricted person in possession of a weapon and theft by receiving stolen property, and was sentenced in October 2018 to one year in jail, according to court records. He was also convicted of the same charge in 2017.

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Pat Reavy is a longtime police and courts reporter. He joined the KSL.com team in 2021, after many years of reporting at the Deseret News and KSL NewsRadio before that.

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