Deranged man on I-70
On Saturday, the Emery County Sheriff’s Office and Utah Highway Patrol troopers were involved in a stand off with a male subject. A 911 call came into Grand County dispatch from a male subject who advised he was distraught and wanted to be involved in a shoot out with local police. He was a truck driver from Texas and passing through the area.
His location was westbound on I-70 at milepost 143 near the Black Dragon rest area. The UHP responded and a trooper located the semi-truck. He called for assistance and waited for backup before moving into the rest area to check on the truck.
When backup arrived and the truck was searched the subject was found not to be with the vehicle. The officers began fanning out and searching the area for the subject. The man was located down off a ledge and hiding behind rocks. The officers didn’t approach the man as they believed him to be armed and possibly dangerous.
The officers began talking to the subject and urging him to come out and give himself up. This standoff lasted more than an hour as the officers attempted to talk him out.
The subject refused to give himself up at that time. The Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team was called out and responded to the scene. The subject moved further down the canyon towards a ledge and told the officers if they approached any closer that he would jump off the ledge.
Shortly after this the subject took off through the bottom of the canyon and tried to climb up the other side. The officers ordered the subject to come down down and he complied. The Green River ambulance was on site and the subject was evaluated by the medical team. After the subject was cleared by the EMTs, he was transported to Castleview Hospital where he underwent a mental evaluation.
From that point he was transported by the Emery County Sheriff’s Office to the state hospital in Provo. The subject was listed as Michael A. Lynch, 55, from Texas. The troopers were also in contact with family members of the subject during the standoff. It is not known if the subject had prior mental issues.
The refrigerated truck was towed back into Green River where the truck owners will reclaim the truck. The man didn’t have any weapons that were found and he wasn’t suffering from any physical injuries. There were a number of troopers who happened to be in the area involved in another activity at the time of the call, so the response to this incident was prompt and approximately nine troopers were involved as well as Deputy Doug Downard and Sgt. Jeff Thomas from the Emery County Sheriff’s Office.