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SALT LAKE CITY — A Nevada man accused of going on a wild crime spree on the Fourth of July that included shooting at an ambulance and setting a grass fire was formally charged Wednesday.
E’an Pernell Hendrix, 32, of Henderson, Nevada, was charged in Morgan County’s 2nd District Court with arson, a second-degree felony; theft and two counts of aggravated assault, all third-degree felonies; two counts of criminal mischief, a class A misdemeanor; and causing an accident involving damage, a class B misdemeanor.
On Saturday, police were called to a grass fire in a gated camping area owned by East Canyon Resort, according to charging documents. The fire caused an estimated $5,000 in damage and in expenses to fight, the charges state.
While en route, officers learned that the man believed to have set the fire had also shot several rounds from a gun and “was the same individual who had been fleeing and committed several other crimes in other counties in the state,” the charges state.
Once Hendrix was inside the camp property, he allegedly broke into an area where recreational vehicles were stored by ramming a gate, then drove off in a side-by-side ATV but rolled it a short time later, the charges state.
“After crashing the stolen side-by-side, witnesses stated he lit off Roman candles or flares that started the fire,” according to the charges.
Hendrix then got back into his own car and drove back onto the main road where a citizen tried to block him with his vehicle, the charges state. Hendrix responded by pointing a gun at him, telling him to move, and firing a round into the air, according to charging documents, followed by a second round after the citizen said he would move.
When Hendrix reached the main gate, which was now locked in an effort to keep him in until police arrived, “witnesses reported the suspect pointed the gun at them to make them get out of the way and fired anywhere from 1-4 shots,” the charges state. “It was reported the suspect said he would ‘kill anyone who tried to stop him’ and rammed the gate, breaking it open.”
Hendrix drove away from the area but was later arrested in Salt Lake City.
As police from several counties began retracing Hendrix’s steps, they learned he was being investigated “by several different agencies throughout the state for multiple incidents that occurred that day,” according to a police affidavit, which included shooting at an ambulance on I-15 in Utah County, fleeing police in Wasatch County, as well as a domestic violence incident in Heber City.
Charges in those incidents were pending Wednesday.
