Bountiful father flees from police after refusing to comply to custody orders

BOUNTIFUL, Utah – A man was arrested after fleeing from police during a custody issue involving his three children Monday night.

According to arresting documents, police had a court order to remove the three children, ages three, six, and eight, from their father, 37-year-old Dustin Matthews, in Bountiful.

He had threatened to kill his family, even asking his mother to take away his firearms because he “was afraid he would use them on his family.”

Matthews also commented that he was planning to take his children to Texas so they couldn’t see his ex-wife anymore.

He has several convictions for domestic violence, assault, stalking, and assaulting a police officer.

When police arrived at his parents’ house in the area of 300 South Temple View Ct, they issued Matthews the court order outside the house and asked him to step away from his children.

Instead, Matthews picked up his three-year-old, repeatedly ignored police commands to stop, and fled into the house, according to police.

His father blocked police from entering the front door of the house.

Several minutes later, the father told police that Matthews had left with his three-year-old.

Police started to search for Matthews in the surrounding neighborhood with a Utah Highway Patrol helicopter assisting them.

Bountiful police Asst. Chief Dave Edwards told KSL-TV that the other two children were in the house, and officers stayed with them.

Edwards said around 8:30 p.m., a bystander saw “a barefooted man in the rain with a toddler” several blocks from the house and called police.

An officer responded and found Matthews with the 3-year-old in his hands and instructed him to stop and step away from the child.

Again, Matthews ignored this command and fled from the officer with the child.

The officer chased him on foot and commanded Matthews to stop, but he refused to comply.

According to arresting documents, the officer attempted to “take physical control of Matthews” when he dropped his child during the chase.

Matthews fought with the officer, which led to him being Tased three times before being placed into custody around 9:27 p.m.

He had marijuana on his person in a small plastic jar.

Police didn’t give the status of the three-year-old with him.

Dustin Matthews was booked in the Davis County Jail for:

• custodial interference,
• obstruction of justice,
• failure to stop at the command of law enforcement (x2),
• failure to stop vessel at command of law enforcement officer,
• child kidnapping, endangerment of a child,
• assault on police officer,
• unlawful detention of a minor,
• child abuse with internal injury,
• possession of controlled substance,
• and use or possession of drug paraphernalia.