Man on most wanted list identified after Tuesday’s police presence at Sunnyside Acres in Idaho Falls
Published at
IDAHO FALLS — Police have identified the man who was arrested Tuesday after a large police presence at Sunnyside Acres.
Idaho Falls Police Chief Bryce Johnson tells EastIdahoNews.com that the man who was arrested and charged was Gustavo Chavez, 30.
Many details about the police presence on Tuesday remain unclear.
Idaho Falls Police said Tuesday that their officers, along with the United States Marshals Task Force, served a search warrant at a residence on West Elwood Drive in Idaho Falls after a man, later identified as Chavez, barricaded himself inside the home.
A shelter-in-place order was issued for the surrounding area while officers worked to resolve the situation safely. Chavez was eventually taken into custody without further incident.
Another person was detained, but is not believed to have been charged.
The reason behind the U.S. Marshals’ involvement is unclear.
The warrant
Chavez was on the Bonneville County most wanted list for a felony probation violation warrant, with the original charge of eluding.
According to court documents, on April 24, around 9:20 p.m., an Idaho Falls Police officer was watching a live video call between an inmate and Chavez.
During the call, Chavez was reportedly preparing to leave a home on Elswood Drive in Sunnyside Acres. The officer was aware that Chavez had an active warrant for his arrest.
Chavez reportedly mentioned that he was putting new tires on his gray Cadillac sedan and that he had a hitch he planned to use to pull a trailer as he left town. The officer drove to the neighborhood and waited at the end of Elswood Drive for Chavez to drive by.
A few minutes later, Chavez drove by in his Cadillac, wearing a black shirt, a gold chain and a black hat, the same outfit he was wearing in the jail video call.
Chavez stopped at the intersection of Elswood Drive and West Sunnyside Road behind another car, and the officer got in line behind him. The officer called for additional units, who responded to the area and tried to “pin in” Chavez’s car between them to prevent him from getting away.
Chavez allegedly weaved between the patrol cars and other traffic, running a stop sign as he drove west in the eastbound lanes of West Sunnyside Road.
He turned south onto Professional Way, and the officer continued to chase him, speeding up to the driver’s side of Chavez’s car and preparing to go side by side. Chavez braked, causing the officer to rear-end the car instead of being able to perform a PIT maneuver.
This caused both cars to go off the road and into a borrow pit parallel to the railroad tracks.
Both cars drove out of the borrow pit, back onto the roadway, and continued south down Professional Way, and a different officer took over the chase.
The new officer chased Chavez south on South 15th West. Chavez failed to stop at a stop sign on 65th South, but the chase was terminated when he entered Bingham County at 1400 North. According to police reports, the officer reached speeds up to 113 mph during the chase.
Later in the day, Chavez’s car was reportedly found unoccupied, back in Idaho Falls on Arctic Avenue and Atlantic Street. A K9 officer performed a free-air sniff of the car and alerted to the back passenger door area. Officers searched the car and found mail, handwritten letters, and notebooks labeled or written to Chavez.
The officer then requested a warrant for Chavez’s arrest, and he was arrested in the Sunnyside Acres on Tuesday, May 26, nearly a month later. He was booked on Tuesday with a $50,000 bond.
Court filings indicate that Chavez has not yet been appointed a public defender. EastIdahoNews.com will update when he is assigned an attorney.
If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison and $50,000 in fines.
Chavez has a history of being on the run. In 2019, EastIdahoNews.com covered his involvement in two separate police-related incidents.
RELATED | 2 wanted men captured after running from police (February 2019)
RELATED | Two men didn’t return from work release; one back in custody (April 2019)