Officers detail past problems with Allgier

Just months before authorities say he gunned down a prison guard, white supremacist Curtis Allgier reportedly threatened to hurt police officers at the Tooele County Jail because he was housed with a Hispanic inmate instead of another supremacist.

That's all it took to have him transferred — and assigned extra security in the process.

Allgier said he wanted someone he would be "more compatible with." If his demands weren't met, Allgier said, "I'm going to (expletive) up somebody on the staff," according to Tooele County Sheriff's Lt. Jerry Mora.

"Once I was told that, I made one phone call to the marshals and said he was gone," Mora said.

Three deputies were assigned to transport him instead of the normal two. The third guard was told to sit behind Allgier with a Taser.

"I told him to taze him if he even flinches," Mora said.

At the time, Allgier was a state inmate accused of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He faced federal charges because of the violation. Several area county jails contract with the federal government to house inmates.

Allgier's troubled trail of disciplinary problems culminated Monday when, after the completion of an MRI at a University Hospital medical clinic, police say he wrested a gun from corrections officer Stephen Anderson and shot him in the head, killing him.

"After Allgier was treated and was changing back into his prison clothing, he attempted to escape," according to a booking statement from the Salt Lake County Jail. "Officer Stephen Anderson then attempted to prevent the escape."

Services for the slain state corrections officer — one of only five killed since the late 1800s — are scheduled for Friday at the Bluffdale LDS Stake Center. A viewing will be held Thursday.

Allgier's time behind bars stems from a history of violent confrontations with the law when he's been on the street and what authorities say are consistent management problems once inside a cell.

Allgier was being held in the Wasatch County Jail before he was determined to be a problem and transferred to Tooele.

"He was whiny," Mora said.

Once Allgier arrived in Tooele, his attitude didn't improve, according to Sheriff Frank Park. He said Allgier stayed just six days and eight hours before jailers in Tooele told the U.S. Marshal's Service to move him.

"We requested they move him because of threats made against officers," Park said.

Corrections officials say they followed protocol Monday in supervising Allgier's visit to the clinic but will review procedures to determine if changes are necessary. Allgier made several trips to the clinic without incident before Monday's shooting, corrections officials said.