Man charged in armed standoff now charged with child abandonment


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PROVO — A man charged in an armed standoff with southern Utah police earlier this week is now accused of abandoning his 15-year-old son at the Provo Municipal Airport two weeks ago.

A $5,000 warrant was issued Friday for Jason K. Alley, 37, on a child abandonment charge, according to Provo Police Sgt. Mathew Siufanua.

Alley, who remains in the Washington County Jail, is also facing criminal charges in connection to a standoff with law enforcement officers Monday that shut down I-15 for nine hours. The abandoned teenager, though, was not one of the two children that were with Alley when he surrendered to police without incident.

The abandoned boy was found at the airport at 3421 W. Mike Jense Parkway on Jan. 25, Siufanua said. He had gone to airport staff asking for help and told them his father had left him.

"(Alley) said, 'I never want to see you again' and left him, with no money or means," Siufanua said.

The teenager told police he had been given a choice between staying with a relative in San Diego or at a prearranged location in Utah. The boy chose to come to Utah. He and his father first tried to find a shelter in Salt Lake City.


(Alley) said, 'I never want to see you again' and left him, with no money or means.

–- Mathew Siufanua


After failing to find somewhere to go, they moved on to Provo where the boy was allegedly left behind at the airport. He was placed at Vantage Point Youth Service Center while an attempt to locate was issued on his father's vehicle.

He is currently in the custody of the Division of Child and Family Services, which had been trying to track down family in San Diego.

Siufanua said it is unclear where Alley was between Jan. 25 and Feb. 6 — the day of the standoff during which Alley had two other children, one age 7 and another a teenager. Siufanua said the attempt to locate was still in place when police tried to initiate a traffic stop on Alley in Toquerville around 11 a.m. for failing to yield.

Instead, Alley is accused of fleeing the scene, traveling through both La Verkin and Hurricane before the chase ended on I-15. Police said Alley was traveling in both the north and southbound lanes at speeds as high as 90 mph when traffic spikes disabled his maroon Scion.

Nine hours later, Alley placed his weapon on the roof of his car and surrendered to law enforcement officers from the Utah Highway Patrol, Washington County Sheriff's Office, Hurricane police and Washington City police and a SWAT team.

His two children were not injured. The three siblings are in the custody of the state Division of Child and Family Services, which have tracked down family in San Diego, to where the boys will return, police said.

Jeff Dial, 56, a communications manager for the Washington County 911 dispatch center, died Tuesday morning after suffering medical complications during the standoff Monday. Dial apparently began experiencing pains during the standoff and was transported to Dixie Regional Medical Center where he later died.

Alley is facing charges of child abandonment, a third- degree felony, in Utah County, and charges of failure to stop at the command of a police officer, a third-degree felony, two counts of reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor and various other misdemeanor charges in St. George.

Written by Emiley Morgan with contributions from Jed Boal.

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