Two Taken Into Custody After Standoff Over Unpaid Taxes
Sep 24, 2020, 11:38 PM
CEDAR HILLS, Utah – Two people have been taken into custody after a wild standoff in Utah County. Several officers from multiple agencies were called to the scene.
Officials with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office said the incident was a matter of unpaid taxes and a man who returned to his former house to essentially squat.
There was a very large presence from law enforcement in the Cedar Hills neighborhood Thursday evening.
The situation got even testier when a group showed up to support Paul Kenneth Cromar and his wife.
Investigators said it was a long-term situation between Cromar and the federal government, which has claimed the man went years without paying taxes. A court issued his house be seized because of an outstanding tax debt of over $1 million.
The home has since been sold to a new owner, but deputies said Cromar and his wife illegally took possession of the home.
“There had been some statements made by Mr. Cromar and others that they would never leave the home,” said Sgt. Spencer Cannon. “There were some statements by Mr. Cromar that he had not been afforded his right to due process in the courts.”
Cannon said the family had been in the home illegally for eight months.
Cromar and his wife were arrested and were expected to be booked into the Utah County Jail. An unspecified number of others were taken into custody, but Cannon said they were going to be released.
