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SALT LAKE CITY — A Hurricane man with a history of being intoxicated and disorderly was arrested Sunday after police say he pointed a weapon at a family trying to get their boat out of the water at Sand Hollow State Park in Hurricane.
John Chase Loveridge, 35, was charged Monday in several cases for a series of incidents over the weekend.
A boater went to the main office at Sand Hollow State Park on Sunday stating “that a man had just threatened him and his family with a gun” at the boat ramp.
“(He) said that Loveridge asked him to help pull his boat from the water and when (the man) said no, Loveridge pulled out a gun and verbally threatened him in front of his family,” a police booking affidavit states. The man said he quickly got in his boat and left the boat ramp “in fear that Loveridge would harm him or his family.”
The man told park officials he initially ignored Loveridge, who then pointed a gun at his chest and said, “I’ll find you and you’ll get yours,” according to the affidavit.
The man had three children with him at the time, ages 8, 11 and 16.
Based on the description the man gave authorities, park officials recognized the gunman as Loveridge, the affidavit says, because they had cited him and impounded his vehicle earlier in the day.
When park rangers found Loveridge next to his boat, he refused to obey their commands to put his hands on his head, according to the affidavit.
“Loveridge only complied when five officers went to take him into custody,” the affidavit states.
An Airsoft gun that Loveridge was carrying was seized by police, according to the affidavit.
Loveridge was charged in 5th District Court Monday with aggravated assault, a third-degree felony; and interfering with an arrest, a class B misdemeanor. He was charged in Hurricane Justice Court with driving on a suspended license and not having an ignition interlock device in his car, both class C misdemeanors. And he was charged in a third case in Hurricane Justice Court with trespassing, a class B misdemeanor.
According to court records, Loveridge’s arrest is the latest in a recent string of run-ins with the law.
He was charged in Garfield County on July 14 with three counts of unlawful possession of a bank card, drug possession and disorderly conduct. In that case, he was arrested after allegedly causing a disturbance and being kicked out of a restaurant in Panguitch. After he was taken to jail, police reported that he was in possession of stolen credit cards.
On July 12, Loveridge was charged with trespassing in Washington County Justice Court. On June 22, he was charged with DUI in Hurricane Justice Court. On June 19, Loveridge was charged with interfering with an arrested officer, intoxication and disorderly conduct.
On June 25, Loveridge was arrested in another incident involving recreationists after police say he “was driving recklessly on the beach and spinning his tires to throw sand onto different camping groups,” was yelling at groups trying to get them to argue, and then began asking people for gas when he ran out, according to a police affidavit.
“One group in particular stated that during the conversation he began to harass them due to their ethnicity. He yelled for them to ‘go back to Mexico,’ and ‘go home and cook beans,’ and ‘go back to your country,’” the affidavit states.
When the group called 911, Loveridge “reached for his gun and threatened them to ‘calm down or I’ll make you calm down,’ and ‘you better chill out or I will chill you out,’ and ‘call the cops, I own them and the FBI,’” according to the affidavit.
