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SALT LAKE CITY — An Ogden man was charged Wednesday with grabbing the guns of two Utah Highway Patrol troopers and trying to pull them out of their holsters while he was being arrested.
James Wilbert Barber, 56, is charged in 3rd District Court with two counts of disarming a police officer, a first-degree felony; assault on a police officer, a class A misdemeanor; failing to disclose his identity, a class B misdemeanor; and disorderly conduct, a class C misdemeanor.
On May 5, UHP troopers spotted Barber walking along I-80 in Salt Lake County. When a trooper tried to talk to Barber, he began shouting at the trooper, made "handgun signals toward himself," picked up a rock and a pipe lying on the freeway shoulder, ran across I-80 and threw the rock toward the trooper, according to charging documents.
Barber then picked up another piece of trash and allegedly swung it at troopers before was taken into custody. As a trooper was attempting to place handcuffs on Barber, he grabbed the trooper's gun and "pulled on it," according to the charges.
When troopers attempted to fingerprint him a short time later, he grabbed a second trooper's gun, the charges state.
After Barber's hand was removed from the gun, he told troopers, "OK, OK. I won't grab your gun again," according to the court documents.
