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- The brother of fugitive Chase Venstra said he might be armed and dangerous if confronted.
- Challis Venstra said his brother was seen outside their mother's house in West Point on Thursday.
- Davis County sheriff's deputies confirmed a search for Chase Venstra Thursday morning.
WEST POINT — The brother of a fugitive sought by law enforcement in Davis County said he believes the man could still be in the area and may be armed and dangerous.
Davis County sheriff's deputies said Thursday they executed a search for Chase Venstra near a West Point home that morning and the search was related to a SWAT incident in the same area on Nov. 25.
"Mr. Venstra is a wanted fugitive out of several states," sheriff's spokeswoman Stephanie Dinsmore said in a statement. "We are actively working toward his safe apprehension. Some of his warrants are for firearms offenses, and as with all fugitives, we would request anyone who comes in contact with him or know(s) his whereabouts to contact law enforcement."
Dinsmore did not say whether deputies think Venstra presents an ongoing threat to the community but said he "has an extensive criminal history and is wanted for offenses involving firearms."
Challis Venstra, Chase's younger brother, told KSL.com on Friday that he believes his brother is still hiding in the area near Hooper and West Point, and believes him to be armed. He said security cameras at his mother's house captured Chase Venstra poking around between 1 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. Thursday — prompting the search by law enforcement — and said Chase Venstra could be seen with what appears to be a handgun in his back pocket.
"So, he's definitely armed and dangerous," Challis Venstra said. "I don't know that he's looking for violence, but it wouldn't surprise me if he resorted to violence if somebody confronted him."
Challis Venstra said he wants to get the word out about his brother to keep the community safe and hopefully see him peacefully detained. Although Chase Venstra is normally pictured wearing a beard, the security footage shows him clean-shaven.
"My dad just died and we're all having a hard time with it, and Chase's crap is not helping at all," Challis Venstra said.
Asked again Friday if the sheriff's office believes Venstra to be armed and dangerous, Dinsmore referred KSL.com to the department's earlier statement and declined to comment further.
Chase Venstra was one of two people tied to the disappearance of Dylan Rounds charged with firearm offenses after Rounds' disappearance. The other, James Brenner, faced similar charges and later pleaded guilty to murdering Rounds, a 19-year-old whose remains were found in Box Elder County earlier this year.
Challis Venstra said his brother has been on the run for several months and that he has not heard from him. During a viewing for his recently deceased father on Nov. 24, however, Challis Venstra said someone broke into his mother's house, stole food from the refrigerator and left on the family's four-wheeler.
Shortly after, he said he received a call from his nephew who said Chase Venstra had been seen at a gas station in nearby Hooper. After his father's funeral the following day, Challis Venstra said another nephew said he had seen the man the previous night and had given him an ultimatum to turn himself in following the funeral.
Chase Venstra hadn't, so Challis Venstra said he alerted a U.S. marshal, which prompted the unsuccessful search on Nov. 25.
The second search was also unsuccessful, but Challis Venstra said he told law enforcement about his suspicions about where his brother might be hiding, and said he believed he might be using the Hooper irrigation ditch or Howard Slough to get around undetected.
"We would just like to see him caught, you know, locked up," Challis Venstra said. "I don't want to see him hurt. ... We'd like to see it peacefully end, but we would definitely like to see it end."
