DEPUTY: Man on LSD abandons SUV in Utah desert after setting it on fire for unknown reason
NEPHI, Utah (KUTV) — A man was arrested after deputies said he set his SUV on fire and left it to burn in the Utah desert while high on LSD.
Deputies with the Juab County Sheriff's Office said that a Bureau of Land Management agent was on-duty in the area of Little Sahara when he advised them that he could see a fire burning near No Name Road.
The BLM agent responded to the area and located a Nissan Xterra SUV that had been destroyed and was up in smoke. Officials said the ground around the SUV was burned as well.
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Fire personnel responded to the scene along with members of the sheriff's office.
Once the fire was extinguished, a responding deputy trailed up the ravine about 200 yards and said he saw what appeared to have been the point at where the SUV got stuck and then rolled down the ravine.
Following a brief discussion, two first responders were sent to follow footprints that were found by the scene, which led them to a man who was dressed dark clothing.
According to police records, the man, later identified as 43-year-old Joshua Shuman Hale, had a mini sledge hammer in one hand and a knife that measured over eight inches in the other.
After ordering him to put the weapons down, deputies said that they asked Hale what had happened, to which he stated that he had consumed LSD the before--and was still under the influence--and then got his SUV stuck sometime later in Little Sahara, and, for unknown reasons, decided to light it on fire.
A background check of Hale revealed that he was on parole and had a no-bail warrant issued for his arrest in relation to an aggravated assault case.
Hale was ultimately booked into the Juab County Jail on a felony charge of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person along with other misdemeanor charges relating to property damage caused by the fire.
No other details were released.
No injuries were sustained in this incident.
