Utahn charged with robbing a bank, fighting police

A man who allegedly robbed a Brigham City bank last month, then car-jacked a pickup and fought with officers after they caught up with him, has been charged with a handful of felonies.

Brad Beasley, 29, was charged Tuesday in 1st District Court faces two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of disarming a police officer, failure to stop at the command of a police officer and assault against a police officer.

The robbery and disarming an officer charges carry a prison sentence of five years to life. If convicted for failing to stop, he could face a penalty of up to five years, as well as up to a year in jail for assaulting an officer.

Two tellers were closing up a Brigham City bank on Feb. 26 when Beasley, wearing a ski mask, walked in with a bag, threatened he had a gun and demanded cash, according to the charges. Stuffing the cash in his bag, Beasley then ran from the bank as an employee called 911.

Two blocks away, he allegedly spotted a pickup truck just pulling into a driveway near 200 South and 100 East. Beasley quickly hid his loot and mask near some garbage cans nearby, then demanded the truck from the driver at gunpoint, the charges add.

Seeing a girl strapped inside a child seat inside the truck, Beasley and the girl's mother, who apparently had come out from the residence as the pickup pulled in, allegedly began struggling with each other to remove her.

"In the process, he dropped his gun. At first, they both tried to reach the gun but the mom then ran away with the child. He recovered his gun and drove off in the pickup," Brigham City police Lt. Michael Nelsen said shortly after Beasley's arrest.

Police soon saw him and gave chase, a pursuit that ended moments later when he crashed into a concrete barrier near an apartment complex at 400 E. 500 South. As he got out of the truck with the gun in hand, a Box Elder County Sheriff's deputy tackled him, according to the charges.

Beasley wrestled with the deputy and a Brigham City police officer and Utah Highway Patrol trooper who had joined in, trying to bite them and succeeded in biting one of them in the leg, according to the charges.

"During the scuffle, he tried to grab one deputy's gun, reached for a second officer's gun, and tried to pull the third officer's rifle toward him by grabbing the sling with his teeth," the charges state. During the fight, he also asked the officers repeatedly to kill him, the charges add.

They eventually handcuffed him. Along with the two injured officers, Beasley was treated for minor injuries.

He has a long history with the state courts, but it is almost entirely related to traffic offenses and child support disputes.

He is scheduled to make his first court appearance on March 11 before Judge Ben Hadfield.

mmcfall@sltrib.comTwitter: @mikeypanda