Man arrested after pointing laser pointer at police car, police say
Jan 18, 2023, 5:30 PM
FILE: Nephi Police truck outside of the Nephi Police Department building. (Google Earth Pro)
(Google Earth Pro)
NEPHI, Utah — A man was arrested after pointing a laser pointer in the rear-view mirror of a Nephi police officer’s car Sunday.
Nephi police said they watched the suspect, identified as Michael Lamb, driving back and forth on Main street making several U-turns when he stopped in the roadway and pointed a green laser pointer into the rear window and rear view mirror of the police patrol vehicle while it was driving.
That’s when officer Paul Davis with Nephi City Police Department said he turned around to make a traffic stop for the violation, according to a probable cause statement. In Utah, it is illegal to use a laser pointer if the user directs a beam of laser light at a moving vehicle or its occupants, or a person known to be a law enforcement officer.
When police pulled him over, they said Lamb informed officers that “people have been driving around shooting firearms and killing people.”
Lamb also stated that workforce services building had been shot multiple times.”
According to court documents, a few hours prior police said gun shots were heard in the area but no suspect was located.
Lamb asked for a deputy to respond to the scene and told them that “the government does not exist and that police do not have authority,” according to police.
Police then asked him to step out of the vehicle for safety concerns as well as suspicion of DUI involving drugs, as they said his eyes appeared to be bloodshot and pupils dilated.
The probable cause statement said Lamb was “assisted out of the vehicle” before he began to yell and resist arrest, for which he was ordered to stop multiple times. He continued to fight with officers and “had to be taken to the ground where he could be taken into custody.”
When he was put in the back of a patrol car, police said he adjusted his cuffed hands to be in front of his body, where he used them to hit and damage the car window. He allegedly continued to tell officers that he worked for the Department of Defense for the government, and that he needed to be taken back to his vehicle.
When they arrived at the Juab County Jail, police warned staff of his behavior and found that he managed to get one hand free of the handcuffs, leaving them damaged. Lamb spoke through the door, according to police, stating that he has done “some bad stuff working with the government” and that he has killed people and smokes marijuana daily.
He later claimed that he did not mean to shine the laser at a police officer, that he thought it was his friends car.
Police stated that physical signs and his erratic behavior appeared to be caused by use of methamphetamine, and that he refused chemical test after he was warned of one. Though a warrant was issued to obtain his blood and urine, police said it was unsafe to retrieve the samples due to his combative behavior.
Michael Lamb was booked into the Juab County Jail under several charges, including:
