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OGDEN — A fourth person was charged Wednesday in connection with an unprovoked attack on two men outside a Maverik gas station in September.
Thomas Micheal Obermiller, 18, of Ogden, is charged in 2nd District Court with aggravated assault, a second-degree felony; riot, a third-degree felony; and assault, a class B misdemeanor.
Obermiller is one of four who have been charged in what police called an "unprovoked" attack on "complete strangers." Riddel, 17, of Tremonton, and Ishmial Jose Juarez, 21, of Ogden, were arrested the day of the incident. Kaleb Michael Esona Jones was identified through videos and arrested Oct. 15.
Juarez, Esona and Riddel, who was charged as an adult, each pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury, a third-degree felony, as part of a plea deal. They were originally charged with aggravated assault, a second-degree felony, and riot, a third-degree felony. Riddel also pleaded guilty to assault, a class B misdemeanor.
Witnesses told police that two men were "just standing and talking in the parking lot when (Riddel) walked up and struck them," according to a police booking affidavit.
Police say Riddel was punching one man, and the other tried to intercede, before Riddle "struck the victim in the face with a closed fist, as the victim was attempting to run away, knocking him to the ground," according to the affidavit. Security camera footage shows Riddel putting the man in a chokehold, "while three other adult males repeatedly punched and kicked the victim."
Juarez "runs up and punches the victim in the face with a closed fist approximately six times," before the man is dropped on the ground, and Juarez "kicks the victim in the body and head three times," the affidavit alleges.
Esona "repeatedly struck the victim," police say, and when the man was "kneeling on the ground senseless and could not defend himself," Esona hit him in the face" knocking him over onto the ground unconscious," according to court documents.
In jail phone calls to their family members, police say the men involved in the attack described Obermiller as "being one of the most egregious of the actors," charging documents say. Surveillance footage shows Obermiller "hitting the victim in the face and body and kicking the victim in the face at least once when he was on the ground," according to a police booking affidavit.
The victim "had significant facial trauma," the arrest report says. His "left eye was swollen shut, his left cheek was swollen to the approximate size of a softball, he had approximately a 1-inch cut above his left eye, he had red abrasions and burst blood vessels over his entire face."
Obermiller "fled the state last month, going to Oregon to avoid being arrested on these charges," according to police, but returned to his mother's house to "retrieve property ... that he believes belongs to him." Videos taken from the night were sent to Obermiller's phone, charges say, and the man showed his mother, who identified him to police.
Riddel was sentenced to three years of probation Nov. 12. Juarez is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 23, and Esona on Jan. 14.
