DUCHESNE — A man who escaped from a Duchesne County sheriff's patrol vehicle following his arrest early Sunday for investigation of DUI is back in custody after he was found hiding in a rancher's shed, authorities said.
Lance Alan Sizemore, 43, was stopped about 12:20 a.m. by Duchesne County sheriff's deputy Clayton Matthews, who said he suspected impairment based on Sizemore's driving pattern.
Sizemore's vehicle also matched the description of a vehicle that had been called in for reckless driving after almost hitting another driver on state Road 121, Matthews wrote in a probable cause statement.
The deputy wrote that he smelled alcohol when he spoke with Sizemore, whose speech was slurred. Sizemore was arrested after failing field sobriety tests, Matthews wrote. He was secured with handcuffs and a belly chain because he told the deputy he had an injured elbow.
Sizemore was put in the front seat of Matthew's patrol vehicle — a sport-utility vehicle that is not equipped with a cage — while the deputy conducted an inventory of Sizemore's vehicle and waited for a tow truck to arrive.
While Matthews was talking to the tow truck driver, Sizemore apparently got out of the deputy's patrol vehicle and ran away. Matthews called for help and additional officers arrived, including a Bureau of Indian Affairs police K9 officer and his dog.
Searches of several outbuildings in the area turned up nothing, so deputies had Central Dispatch make a reverse 911 call to homeowners in the area informing them of the escape.
A rancher found Sizemore hiding behind a baler in a shed about 9 a.m. and called authorities, Matthews wrote. When police searched Sizemore, they found a knife that he'd taken from inside the shed, the deputy wrote.
Sizemore was taken to Uintah Basin Medical Center as a precaution before being booked into the Duchesne County Jail for investigation of escape, burglary, theft, DUI and driving on an expired registration.
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