Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
VERNAL — Formal charges have been filed against a "high-risk" Oregon parolee accused of shooting at a Vernal police officer at the end of a brief chase in September.
Kiel Kane Kimball was charged Wednesday in 8th District Court with attempted murder, a first-degree felony; two counts of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a second-degree felony; obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony; and failure to stop at the command of police, a third-degree felony.
Kimball, 28, refused to pull over on Sept. 9 when a Vernal police officer tried to stop him about 3:30 a.m. for a minor equipment violation, according to investigators. A chase ensued but ended quickly when Kimball crashed into a weed-filled lot, police said.
"Kimball exited the driver's side of the vehicle and fired several rounds at the Vernal City police officer, (who) was in full uniform yelling, 'Show me your hands,'" charging documents state.
Investigators said the officer responded to the gunfire by firing seven shots toward the pickup truck as he took cover. Kimball and his passenger, 23-year-old Savanah Marie Hackford, ran away leading to a multiday manhunt for the pair.
The officer was not wounded. He has returned to duty following an internal investigation and a use-of-force review by the Uintah County Attorney's Office. Police have not said whether Kimball or Hackford were injured in the crash or the shooting.
Detectives found one of the bullets Kimball allegedly fired at the officer in a wall of a nearby apartment. No one inside the apartment was hurt.
Kimball was arrested Sept. 10 after a second police chase and told detectives he used a .45-caliber handgun in the shooting, the charges state. Hackford, 23, was arrested the following day. She was charged Wednesday with failure to respond to at the command of police, a class A misdemeanor.
At the time of the shooting, Kimball and Hackford each had pending charges in Utah. Kimball was also on the "most wanted list" in Malheur County, Oregon, where he is on parole for kidnapping and hindering prosecution convictions.
Malheur County Sheriff's Lt. Debbie Hust described Kimball as "a high-risk offender." A warrant for his arrest was requested in May for alleged parole violations, she said.
Court records show Vernal police made contact with Kimball and Hackford in June while investigating a trespassing report. Hackford was not arrested, but Kimball provided the investigating officer with a false name, resisted arrest and assaulted officers, according to charging documents.
A judge issued a no-bail warrant for Kimball in July after he failed to appear for a hearing in the case, court records show.
Kimball also has a prior conviction in Utah for aggravated assault, was extradited to Oregon in 2007 for parole violations, and was arrested again in 2013 by a federal fugitive task force at a Vernal movie theater for absconding from parole in Oregon, according to court records.
Since his arrest in September, prosecutors have filed felony charges against Hackford in three other cases — one stemming from drugs police say they found in Hackford's room while searching for him, another for the second chase that ended with his arrest and a third for alleged assaults on Uintah County corrections officers two days after his arrest.
As for Hackford, court records show prior convictions for drug-related charges. She was charged in May with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia after police said they found her with methamphetamine, drug pipes and syringes.
Kimball is due back in court Nov. 24 for a status hearing in the attempted murder case. Hackford is scheduled to appear in court the next day for a preliminary hearing.
