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PROVO — A man convicted of murder as a teenager in 1997 and sentenced to the Utah State Prison was arrested Tuesday following an early morning chase with police.
Beau Heaps, 37, was arrested in Provo just before 2 a.m. Adult Probation and Parole, Springville police and the Utah Highway Patrol had all been pursuing him throughout the night.
Heaps was arrested after walking into a Provo hospital to be treated for undisclosed injuries. He was recognized by a Provo police officer working an overtime shift who had been listening to the night's activities on his police radio.
"He put two and two together and made an arrest. All the helicopters and cop cars in the world sometimes doesn't do it," Provo Police Sgt. Brian Taylor said.
On Aug. 25, 1996, Heaps, then 17, and six other gang members went to the Orem home of 38-year-old John Freitag. The group confronted Freitag, and he was fatally shot.
Leikina Lavulavu, 19, who prosecutors say fired the fatal shot, was convicted and sentenced to five years to life in prison.
Heaps was also sentenced to five years to life for the first-degree felony and an additional one to five years because the crime took place within 1,000 feet of a school.
Although Heaps did not fire the fatal shot, prosecutors argued that he was the one who instigated the confrontation, and he had threatened Freitag several times in the past. None of the other gang members who went to the apartment that night knew Freitag or where he lived.
The relationship between the two soured after a door was broken during a party at Freitag's home. Heaps was also reportedly upset that Freitag planned to become an informant for narcotics police and possibly snitch on him.
Heaps' appeal went all the way to the Utah Supreme Court, where his conviction was upheld.
Heaps has been paroled four times since originally being sent to prison. His original parole was in 2012. His most recent parole was in September. But agents were once again concerned about possible parole violations and had talked to him on Friday, said Adult Probation and Parole Director Jim Hudspeth.
On Monday afternoon, agents were notified of a post on Heaps' Facebook page in which Heaps allegedly said "goodbye" to his family and threatened law enforcement, Hudspeth said.
An attempt-to-locate bulletin was issued to all law enforcement about 8 p.m. The bulletin warned that Heaps should be considered "armed and dangerous," according to UHP Sgt. Todd Royce.
Adult Probation and Parole agents and Springville police received information Tuesday night that Heaps was at a Wal-Mart in Springville about 11 p.m. But he fled in a 1992 Chevy pickup before officers arrived.
About 20 minutes later, two UHP troopers spotted the pickup on northbound I-15 and initiated a pursuit, with speeds reaching 90 mph.
Another trooper was set up to deploy a tire spike strip just past the Orem Center Street exit when Heaps got off the freeway, Royce said. His car was later found abandoned near Lions Park in Provo. Law enforcers set up a containment in the area, and the Department of Public Safety helicopter was brought in to help the search.
Hudspeth said he did not know Tuesday if Heaps was really in need of medical attention when he walked into the hospital. He did not crash the vehicle he was fleeing in. Hudspeth said Heaps was released from the hospital and returned to the prison.
Between the time the Facebook post was spotted and Heaps was taken into custody, less than 12 hours had passed. Hudspeth praised the cooperation between law enforcement agencies for bringing the situation to a quick resolution.
