Newly released records from Utah's Summit County Sheriff’s Office appear to suggest the man accused of attacking a church in Michigan over the weekend had been arrested in Utah in 2010.
According to an incident report and mugshot obtained by Scripps News, Thomas Jacob Sanford was arrested for driving under the influence after leaving a bar on March 12, 2010.
@scrippsnews Scripps News has been digging into the background of the man accused of crashing into a Michigan LDS church, opening fire and setting the building on fire. Investigative reporter @lorijaneinvestigator ♬ original sound - Scripps News
A man with the same name and date of birth crashed his truck into a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, on Sunday. Police say he then shot several people, set the building on fire, before being killed in a shootout with officers.
The Utah incident report from 2010 described Sanford as driving in a vehicle that was “bouncing back and forth (side to side) in his lane.”
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During the traffic stop, the officer conducted field sobriety tests on Sanford. He described Sanford as having eyes that were “fairly blood shot and glossy.” The officer also noted that Sanford appeared to have a balance problem.
“Based on the driving pattern I observed, time of night (bar closing time frame), Sanford’s field sobriety test observations and his breath sample, I placed Sanford under arrest for suspicion of driving under the influence,” the officer wrote.
According to the report, a breath test at the jail returned a .181 result.
Sanford “admitted to have (sic) been drinking beer...and said that he had two, but they were ‘stronger’ beers. He also said he had beers at his house before going out,” the officer wrote.
