Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
BLANDING — A man who police say refused to pull over, then refused to get out of his car or move it out of traffic, was arrested in southern Utah, and during a subsequent search officers reported finding guns, drugs and numerous IDs from several states in his vehicle.
The incident began when a Blanding police officer attempted to pull over a vehicle for speeding. The driver refused to pull over, forcing the officer to get in front of him and use his vehicle to stop the man, according to a police booking affidavit.
"He stopped in the middle of the highway blocking traffic behind me. He later admitted that he had no intention of stopping had I not forced him to come to a stop," the affidavit states. "He admitted that the only reason he stopped was because I pulled in front of him and blocked his path."
Bandele Bake Prioleau, 35, then refused to pull over to the side of U.S. 191, refused to get out of his car and refused to show the officer any identification, according to the affidavit.
"He argued about our right to enforce any laws against him," police wrote in the arrest report.
Multiple officers were called to the scene and the north lanes of traffic were blocked for four hours. During that time, officers obtained search warrants to allow them to remove Prioleau from his vehicle. A search warrant was also obtained for the vehicle.
During a search of the vehicle, police found three firearms, including a rifle reported stolen out of Columbus, brass knuckles, marijuana, THC wax, and multiple identification cards from several places including New York, Colorado, Ohio and Bermuda, according to the affidavit.
"These IDs had his picture but some had different names and date of births on them," the affidavit alleges. "The individual had large amounts of U.S. currency in the vehicle as well as various foreign currencies. He had two passports, one from United States and one from Bermuda. His criminal history indicates frequent border crossings and flights in and out of the U.S."
He was booked into the San Juan County Jail for investigation of three counts of possession of a firearm by a restricted person, failing to stop for an officer, speeding, drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, unlawful possession of a weapon, having a stolen gun, interfering with an arrest, possessing false IDs and failing to disclose his identity to police.
Police have requested that Prioleau be held without bail.
