PRESCOTT, AZ – A man was arrested after he allegedly fled from officers in his grandmother’s vehicle, according to police on Monday.
Lieutenant Clayton Heath with the Prescott Police Department said officers approached a man who was sitting in a vehicle in the parking lot of Taylor Hicks School around 1:50 a.m. Saturday.
The man inside the vehicle reportedly told police he was waiting for a friend, but when officers asked for his name he told them he was John Lake and hesitated when giving his birth date.
Police said they became suspicious and the man told them he was 24-year-old John Travis Altman and had a suspended license.
Heath said as officers were checking the status of the license plate, Altman fled the scene in the vehicle.
Officers attempted to catch up to Altman, but were unsuccessful.
Other officers were alerted to Altman fleeing the scene and he was apparently spotted running into the brush off Pinion Drive.
Heath said Altman was not located at that time, but his vehicle was located on a dirt mound in the side yard of a residence.
The vehicle was towed from the scene.
The vehicle was reportedly registered to his grandmother who did not give Altman permission to drive it.
Altman was arrested a few hours later while he was being driven by some friends back to retrieve his vehicle, according to Heath.
Altman was charged with the following: - One count of Unlawful use of means of transportation
- One count of possession of stolen property
- One count of Prohibited Possessor of a Weapon (Altman was on probation and a weapon was found in the vehicle he was driving)
- One count of Driving on a Suspended Drivers License
- One count of Criminal Impersonation
- One count of Endangerment.
