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VERNAL — The police chase lasts for 20 seconds before the driver of the pickup truck crashes in a dark, weed-filled field east of two apartment complexes.
"Ten-50 into a field," Vernal police officer Chris Gardenheir tells a dispatcher, using the code for a crash. "Send me extra units."
In the next 12 seconds, the dash-mounted camera in Gardenheir's patrol car records the veteran officer repeatedly yelling one command at the people in the pickup.
"Show me your hands! Show me your hands, now!" Gardenheir orders as a woman's voice can be heard shouting something unintelligible in response.
"Show me your hands!" the officer repeats. "Show …"
The last command is cut off by a startled expletive from Gardenheir when the driver of the truck, Kiel Kane Kimball, fires two shots from a .45-caliber handgun at the officer, according to investigators.
Gardenheir responded by firing seven rapid shots as he retreated to the back of his patrol car to take cover, detectives said.
"Shots fired! Shots fired!" Gardenheir yells into his radio as the dashcam records Kimball's female passenger casually gathering a few items from the front seat of the pickup and heading off into the chest-high weeds.
Kimball, who isn't seen at any point on the video because of the way Gardenheir stopped his patrol car when the chase abruptly ended, also melted into the darkness.
The dashcam video of the traffic stop, brief chase and shooting was released Tuesday to KSL-TV in response to a public records request that was filed the day after the Sept. 9 incident.
Gardenheir was wearing a body camera but didn't have time to switch it on due to the dynamic nature of the traffic stop, Vernal Assistant Police Chief Keith Campbell said.
Gardenheir tried to stop the pickup Kimball was driving just before 3:30 a.m. because of a taillight violation, Campbell said. He didn't know Kimball — a high-risk parolee from Oregon with outstanding warrants — was at the wheel, investigators have said.
One of the bullets Kimball is accused of firing at Gardenheir was found lodged in the wall of a nearby apartment, investigators said. No one inside the apartment was injured.
Gardenheir was not wounded either. Two of his shots hit the driver's door of the pickup, according to a search warrant that was unsealed last week. Neither Kimball, 28, nor his passenger, 23-year-old Savanah Marie Hackford, were hit by gunfire, investigators said.
Kimball and Hackford were both in custody within two days of the Sept. 9 incident. He is charged with attempted murder, possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, obstruction of justice, and failure to stop at the command of police. She is charged with failure to stop at the command of police.
At the time of the shooting, Kimball and Hackford each had pending charges in Utah. Kimball was also on the "most wanted list" in Malheur County, Oregon, where he is on parole for kidnapping and hindering prosecution convictions.
Malheur County Sheriff's Lt. Debbie Hust described Kimball as "a high-risk offender." A warrant for his arrest was requested in May for alleged parole violations, she said.
Court records show Vernal police made contact with Kimball and Hackford in June while investigating a trespassing report. Hackford was not arrested, but Kimball provided the investigating officer with a false name, resisted arrest and assaulted officers, according to charging documents.
A judge issued a no-bail warrant for Kimball in July after he failed to appear for a hearing in the case, court records show.
Kimball also has a prior conviction in Utah for aggravated assault, was extradited to Oregon in 2007 for parole violations, and was arrested again in 2013 by a federal fugitive task force at a Vernal movie theater for absconding from parole in Oregon, according to court records.
Since his arrest in September, prosecutors have filed felony charges against Kimball in three other cases — one stemming from drugs police say they found in Kimball's room while searching for him, another for the second chase that ended with his arrest, and a third for alleged assaults on Uintah County corrections officers two days after his arrest.
As for Hackford, court records show prior convictions for drug-related charges. She was charged in May with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia after police said they found her with methamphetamine, drug pipes and syringes.
Kimball is due back in court Nov. 24 for a status hearing in the attempted murder case. Hackford is scheduled to appear in court the following day for a preliminary hearing.
