Attempted kidnapping in county

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On Monday, April 20, Emery County Sheriff’s Office dispatch received a call from a worker at the ball complex in Huntington stating that one of their workers was acting strange and had left the job site on foot with a set of master keys to the building at the complex.
Deputies responded to search the area and businesses close by. An employee at Heritage Funeral Home stated, he had noticed a suspicious person around their building, but was with a family making funeral arrangements so he wasn’t too concerned. This employee later called the Sheriff’s Office and reported his vehicle was missing from the parking lot.
Deputies remained on patrol looking for the subject and the stolen vehicle. Later in the afternoon, dispatch received a report of a suspicious male driving a school bus in the Cleveland area. Lt. Gayle Jensen from the Emery County Sheriff’s Office located the slow moving bus and pulled in front of it before it had a chance to gain any speed. The driver of the bus, 30-year-old Patrick James Fredricksen, was arrested at the scene.
Upon further investigation, it was learned that Fredricksen is a convicted sex offender who was paroled in the Ogden area. He was working for a landscaping company installing sod at the ball complex in Huntington.
After stealing the school bus and using a list he found in the bus containing names and directions, Fredricksen attempted to pick one child up at her home and was asking directions to a second child’s home.
Lt. Gayle Jensen said the father of the child thwarted the attempt to pick up the first child. These attempts to pick up children occurred at approximately 3:30 p.m. A call was received at 3:39 p.m. reporting this suspicious incident. The keys were in the school bus and it was a substitute bus driver at that time. Information in the bus detailed the bus route. The Emery County School District is conducting a review to determine if there were any policy violations on the employee’s part in the incident.
After being taken into custody, Fredricksen broke a fire suppression system water pipe in the Emery County Jail, flooding his cell and the booking area. He is now facing two charges of Theft of Vehicle, Attempted Child Kidnapping and Damaging a Jail.
Lt. Jensen said the events that transpired didn’t appear to be planned on the suspect’s part and appeared to be a crime of opportunity. Deputy AJ O’Neil handled the investigation at the childrens’ homes and was instrumental in the capture of the suspect.
Emery County Sheriff Greg Funk said the suspect was living in the Wellington area.
Fredricksen was transported from the Emery County jail to the Utah State Prison on Thursday morning. Since Fredricksen was on parole any new crime committed results in his going back to prison. Fredricksen will be transported back to Emery County for any court appearances on the charges.