Provo man charged in violent robbery

Rafael Guzman-Hernandez, 34, of Provo, was charged Thursday in 4th District Court.

Rafael Guzman-Hernandez, 34, of Provo, was charged Thursday in 4th District Court. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)


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PROVO — A man who, along with a teen boy, robbed a woman while she was sitting in her car with six children, according to prosecutors, has been charged.

Rafael Guzman-Hernandez, 34, of Provo, was charged Thursday in 4th District Court with two counts of aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony; assault by a prisoner, a third-degree felony; and failing to stop at the command of police, a class A misdemeanor.

On Saturday, just after midnight, a woman was sitting in her vehicle with six children awaiting her son, when Guzman-Hernandez and a 17-year-old boy approached her car, "one with a gun at the driver's side window and one with a knife at the front passenger window," according to charging documents.

"The juvenile defendant pointed the gun at the woman's head and at the children seated in the back while asking for her purse. (Guzman-Hernandez) put the knife to the neck of a juvenile victim who was sitting in the front passenger seat and asked the juvenile victim for money," the charges state.

After getting a purse and wallet, the two suspects ran off and police were called.

"Officers responded and saw two individuals running in the street," the charges state. "The two individuals kept running, jumping fences into other properties."

The teen ran into a house and "pointed a gun at two people who lived in the residence," the charges state.

Officers using police K-9s were able to take the juvenile into custody. Guzman-Hernandez was found hiding next to the house, the charges state. Guzman-Hernandez again tried to run but was stopped by police.

After officers stopped him, Guzman-Hernandez "kicked an officer hard enough to knock the officer down to the ground," the charges state. After being placed in the back of a patrol car, he "tried to break the patrol car windows by kicking them and tried to break the holding cage in the car."

A BB gun and a knife were recovered from the scene, as well as the woman's purse.

It was not immediately known Thursday if the teen, whose name was not released, was charged.

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Pat Reavy, KSLPat Reavy
Pat Reavy interned with KSL in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL or Deseret News since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.

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