Issue date: 8/27/07 Section: New

 

The Utah Department of Corrections said last week that it will not release a report detailing the fatal shooting that occurred during Curtis Allgier's escape from the U's Orthopaedic Clinic in Research Park on June 25.

Tom Patterson, executive director at the Utah Department of Corrections, preferred not to comment about the Department of Public Safety report, which was supposed to be made public last Wednesday.

The report could have offered more details about what happened during Allgier's escape as he was undergoing an MRI for lower-back pain at the medical center. Police said Allgier overpowered his guard, Stephen Anderson, snatched Anderson's gun, and fatally shot him twice in the chest and head.

Police said Allgier then hijacked a car, drove to an Arby's restaurant on Redwood Road, ran inside and put a gun to an employee's head. Eric Fullerton, a customer inside the restaurant, then wrested the gun from Allgier.

Patterson said the report was kept private in order to ensure public safety by keeping police procedures under wraps.

"We would prefer not to keep our primary procedures transparent," Patterson said. "There were also other reasons. There is prosecutions pending and we don't want to jeopardize that."

Allgier now faces various charges, including attempted escape, attempted homicide and aggravated murder. Allgier is being held in the Salt Lake County Metro Jail without bail and could face the death penalty, prosecutors said.

And although the safety report has been completed, the incident is still under investigation, Patterson said.

"We prefer not to consider this an end," Patterson said. "We are very hesitant to say that our work is done here."

The report, however, has prompted changes in the way inmates are transported to the U's medical centers.

Eighteen new officers have been hired to ensure that at least two officers-or three, depending on how much of a "risk" the inmate is considered-will escort inmates to routine medical visits, Patterson said.

A new computer system will allow officers to see which inmates are "at risk" more clearly. Guards will carry tasers and inmates must wear a new leg restraint that will cause them to hobble if they try to escape, Patterson said.

The importance of Kevlar bulletproof vests is also being stressed, Patterson said. Anderson was not wearing a Kevlar vest at the time of the incident.

"Any time an incident involves an officer, it's very traumatic," Patterson said. "We don't want it to happen again."

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