PROVO, Utah (AP) -- Despite his tearful plea, former Lehi police officer Arthur Henderson has been denied bail pending filing of charges in a car chase with gunshots followed by the serious wounding of his former wife’s boyfriend.
Henderson, 38, told the court Monday that his elderly parents rely on his assistance, but 4th District Judge Steven L. Hansen told him, “I find you to be very volatile and highly emotional.”
An arraignment hearing was set for Monday, at which charges were expected to be filed.
Authorities allege that on Friday morning, Henderson, firing through his windshield, chased the car carrying his former wife, Natalie Henderson, and her boyfriend, Craig Trimble, until smashing into their car at her parents’ home.
The probable cause statement said Arthur Henderson then jumped out, went to the driver’s side window of the car and repeatedly fired a handgun past Natalie Henderson’s face, striking Trimble in the stomach and leg.
When Trimble fled to a nearby home, Henderson got a high-powered rifle from his truck and allegedly began firing at arriving Lehi police officers. The officers returned fire, striking Henderson in the foot and knee. Henderson then gave up and was taken into custody.
Henderson was treated at American Fork Hospital and released late Friday.
Trimble was flown to LDS Hospital, then transferred to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, where he was listed in serious but stable condition on Monday.
Deputy Utah County Attorney Sherry Ragan said that during the chase, Arthur Henderson fired recklessly, with one slug going through a car in which a 7-year-old child was riding, and another puncturing the windshield of a responding officer.
According to the probable cause statement, another bullet struck another Lehi police officer in the foot, but did not penetrate his boot.
Ragan told Hansen that Arthur Henderson’s alleged acts and his psychological state pose an extreme risk to society.
At Monday’s hearing, he argued that he needed to be given bail to care for his elderly parents, and that he was not a flight risk due to his ties to the community and due to injuries from the shooting. He said he was scheduled to undergo knee replacement surgery.
He also said that he had been taking a prescription antidepressant, but his doctor had recently refused to give him more of the drug.
He was fired from the Lehi police in 2004 after he was charged with misdemeanor simple assault. He was convicted in Justice Court, but has appealed to the 4th District Court, where the case is pending.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)