A Springville police officer was hospitalized and a Spanish Fork man arrested after the officer caught the man trying to steal from a food donation box Friday.
The officer was patrolling in the area of 700 South Main Street about 2 p.m. when he saw feet dangling from a Tabitha’s Way donation box. The non-profit collects food for the needy.
The man was attempting to climb into the box, according to a police news release. The officer asked the man to get out and started questioning him. Despite the officer asking the man to keep his hands out of his pockets, the man refused.
At some point, according to the release, the man began punching the officer in the face.
The attack was stopped after a passer-by saw the attack and pulled a gun on the man, demanding he stop attacking the officer. According to police, the passer-by had a concealed weapons permit.
The man fled but was discovered 30 minutes later across the street from where the attack took place, hiding under a flatbed trailer.
He was arrested without further incident and booked into the Utah County jail on suspicion of assault on an officer, resisting arrest, theft, burglary and failure to stop at the command of an officer.
The officer, who was not named in the release, was hospitalized for a fractured orbital bone and lacerations to his face.
