Transient arrested 452 times

Editor's note: To read a more extensive information on this issue, click here to see Pat Reavy's story from last year.

Maybe he thought they wouldn't remember him.

A man who has been arrested more than 450 times by Salt Lake police was arrested again this week after he tried to convince arresting officers he, too, was a cop.

Wednesday morning, two transients entered the Walgreens drug store at 531 E. 400 South. Both men are well known by police because of their frequent arrests. Very frequent: Wilson Yazzie Benally has been arrested by Salt Lake police 452 times since 1995, often coming in contact with police multiple times a day, said Salt Lake police detective Jeff Bedard.

Benally's extreme arrest record is unusual for Salt Lake City, but he is not alone with his frequent encounters with the law. In fact, both police and Salt Lake City officials last year identified an estimated two to three dozen people who were "chronically arrested." Most of those people were transients and most of their crimes were petty, such as trespassing or public intoxication.

But the city estimated that unique group costs taxpayers an estimated $1 million a year in public service resources. A recent study looked at 34 of the city's biggest offenders. Between 2002 and 2006, officers dealt with those 34 people more than 15,000 times, costing the city between $1.2 and $2.5 million.

On this particular trip to the Walgreens store, Benally's friend tried to shoplift a bottle of mouthwash, police say. When the two were confronted by store security and later Salt Lake police, officers say Benally told them he was a police officer.

He even pulled out two business cards from legitimate officers he previously had contact with and argued that was proof he was a real cop.

"He told them he was on special assignment and that everything was OK," Bedard said.

Two Salt Lake officers then quizzed Benally, asking him which department he worked for. The long-haired man, who was dressed in a rather unkempt manner, said he worked for Salt Lake police — which the officers knew right away was wrong, since it is their department.

Benally was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of impersonating a police officer, trespassing and four warrants for retail theft and intoxication.

But Benally's extensive rap sheet isn't the city's most egregious.