Naked man nabbed in Pleasant Grove

Arrest made after he bites Orem officer, then flees

PLEASANT GROVE — A naked man who claimed to be Jesus Christ was wrestled to the snowy ground and arrested at a Pleasant Grove mobile-home park following an incident in Orem where he allegedly tried to bite off a police officer's finger Monday morning.

The arrest followed a police chase from Orem to the Pleasant Grove mobile-home park.

"It wasn't at all what I had in mind for today," said Pleasant Grove Police Chief Tom Paul. "This is no way to start your week."

According to police, at about 8 a.m. a Pleasant Grove man told his mother he was Jesus Christ and ordered her to leave her home on High Country Drive in Orem.

The man's mother called police for help. When officer Shane Fredrickson arrived at the home, the man became violent, said Orem Police Lt. Doug Edwards.

Fredrickson tried to stun the man with a Tazer gun — but it had little effect. Then, Edwards said, the man attacked the officer, biting him on the finger through his glove.

The right index finger, according to Edwards, was badly damaged. The fingernail was ripped off and the tip of the bone broken.

Fredrickson drove his squad car to Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem for medical care while other officers pursued the man to his mobile home near 200 West and State Street in Pleasant Grove.

There, Paul said, police surrounded the mobile home, evacuated the neighbors and attempted to negotiate the man's surrender.

"I've known this guy for years. He's very paranoid. At one time, he thought the Mexican mafia was after him," Paul said. "I've worked with him on a number of issues over the years so he knows me."

Paul was able to persuade the man to come out of the mobile home. When the man stepped outside, he wasn't wearing any clothes.

"There were guys trying to get between him and the door," Paul said. "When he noticed that, he tried to run back in. We had to wrestle him to the ground."

Paul said no one else was hurt, and the fact that the man was unclothed actually helped police.

"You know he's not concealing any weapons," Paul said.

There was no one else in the mobile home during the incident, Paul said. The man appeared to be talking to someone, yelling and talking to God throughout the hourlong siege.

Edwards said the man was taken to the American Fork Hospital for a medical evaluation.

William Bolick, 44, was arrested and booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of aggravated assault and simple assault in connection with the incident.

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E-MAIL: haddoc@desnews.com

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