What started as a tense Saturday night in a Brigham City neighborhood turned into a full-blown standoff, with a SWAT team, negotiators, and evacuated residents huddled at a nearby church. Police say a man barricaded himself inside a home, threatened to blow it up, and forced officers to shut down gas lines before he eventually surrendered and was taken into custody early Sunday without incident.
According to KMYU, the trouble began around 7:45 p.m. Saturday when a woman called police and reported that her 45-year-old boyfriend, identified by officers as Jeremy Ruben Perea, was intoxicated and yelling at her through a locked door. She told police he ordered her to get the dogs out because he intended to blow up the house with her still inside.
The woman said Perea then began filling the home with natural gas, and officers at the scene also reported smelling gas, KMYU reports. Police set up a perimeter around the area, evacuated nearby homes and guided residents to a local church building while crews checked the lines and shut off gas to the property. Negotiators were brought in to talk with Perea, and he ultimately walked out of the residence and was arrested at about 1 a.m.
Charges and legal status
At the police station, Perea was interviewed, and the probable cause statement notes that he “claimed to not recall threatening to blow up the home but did acknowledge making that statement to police,” according to KUTV. Documents also state he was on probation for a prior domestic violence incident. He was booked into the Box Elder County Jail without bail on one count of third-degree felony aggravated assault with a domestic violence enhancement. Under Utah law, a third-degree felony can carry a prison term of up to five years and a fine of up to $5,000, as outlined in the Utah Code.
What happens next
Once officers had secured the area and shut off gas service, evacuated residents were allowed to return to their homes. Perea remains in custody at the Box Elder County Correctional Facility; the county’s public inmate roster lists the facility and contact information for family members or attorneys seeking booking details via the Box Elder County inmate roster. Authorities had not released a court date or additional investigative details as of Sunday night.
