An armed carjacker who told his victim he needed a ride to visit his hospitalized father will serve nearly 20 years in prison.
Wade Anthony Mayes, 41, was sentenced Tuesday to 234 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release.
According to federal prosecutors, Mayes and another man flagged a vehicle down in January, asking for a ride to St. Mark's Hospital. After driving for a while, Mayes ordered the driver into a church parking lot, displayed a loaded revolver and demanded money, court documents state.
The man handed over $20 cash, as well as his ATM and credit cards. Mayes took the wheel and drove to various Salt Lake teller machines and made withdrawals, documents state.
Later, during an altercation over the victim's ringing cell phone, Mayes swerved into oncoming traffic and into the path of a South Salt Lake City police car. According to court documents, Mayes pulled over, switched seats and threatened the victim if he informed police of the situation.
The suspicious officer asked the men to step out of the vehicle, prosecutors contend, and the victim told him what was going on.
Mayes and his partner were taken into police custody. Mayes tried to escape by crawling out the window of a patrol car but was quickly apprehended, according to prosecutors.
The second man, 37-year-old Michael West Burke, also pleaded guilty to armed carjacking and brandishing a firearm and will be sentenced in October.