SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah – A man was arrested Wednesday after he drove through a police barricade to enter an area evacuated due to a wildfire, and it was the second time he’d broken through the barrier.
Robert Wiener, 74, was trying to reach his home, which is in an area under a mandatory evacuation order due to the Rockport 5 Fire.
Specific details about why the man was so insistent on getting to his home despite the fire and the roadblock were not immediately available.
Police said Wiener, “forcibly ran a hard barricade established by the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.”
The incident occurred just before noon Wednesday.
Wiener’s vehicle hit several cones as he ran the barricade and then he led officers on a vehicle pursuit. Wiener was stopped and arrested in the driveway of his residence. Wiener had broken through the barricade Tuesday night, and he had been warned about the closure and told he’d be arrested if he crossed the barricade again.
Wiener was booked into the Summit County Jail on a felony evading charge.
The Rockport 5 Fire has burned about 2,000 acres and is 25 percent contained, as of Wednesday night. The fire began Tuesday afternoon after a lightning strike.
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