West Valley man charged in dragging police officer

A West Valley City man has been charged with aggravated assault after a police officer was dragged with the truck.

The aggravated assault charge, a third-degree felony, was filed against Anthony Gilbert Bulfer, 32, Tuesday in 3rd District Court.

Last week, West Valley police responded to a report of a theft that had taken place at Wal-Mart near 5600 West and 6200 South. An officer observed a vehicle matching the description of the one reported in the theft, so he pulled it over, the charges said.

Bulfer, the driver of the vehicle, along with Dominic Fidel Mendoza, 30, and Sonya Velasquez, 24, were in the truck, the charges said. The officer who pulled the truck over instructed them to put their hands on the dashboard while he waited for other officers to arrive.

Bulfer reached down and started the vehicle, but the officer pulled out his Taser and ordered him to turn it off, so he did. Moments later, Bulfer quickly rolled up the window and started the car, the charges said.

"(The officer) put his arm in the wing window in a attempt to get a hold of the shifting mechanism," the charges said. "(The officer's) arm was stuck in the vehicle as the vehicle began to drive forward, and (the officer) had to run to stay on his feet."

The officer then pulled out his pistol and broke the window to free his arm, but not before suffering cuts to his hand that required stitches, according to the charges.

Police said after the incident that the officer had been dragged about 10 feet.

All three people in the vehicle left on foot in a nearby neighborhood but were arrested a short time later, police said.

According to the charges, Bulfer, Velasquez and Mendoza were all involved in the theft at Wal-Mart, where they took close to $800 of merchandise from the store.

Bulfer told police he knew the officer's arm was stuck in the vehicle, but he was scared "and drove with (the officer's) arm in the vehicle anyway," the charges said.

Bulfer was also charged with retail theft and failure to respond to officer's signal to stop, both third-degree felonies. Velasquez and Mendoza were both charged Tuesday with retail theft, as well as misdemeanor charges of failure to stop at the command of a law officer.

e-mail: ethomas@desnews.com