Reputed white supremacist in custody

A self-described white supremacist accused of carrying a loaded firearm on a street who evaded St. George (Utah) Police for nine months is in custody today in Washington County, Utah.

Just after 7 a.m. Wednesday, St. George Police stopped Johnny Winston Bangerter, 28, after investigators learned that he was staying within the St. George city limits, police said.

Bangerter has publicly said that his white supremacist Army of Israel claims Zion National Park, near Hurricane, Utah, where he lived, as a white homeland.

St. George detectives had set up surveillance near a house Bangerter was believed to be visiting, according to Police Chief Robert Flowers.

When Bangerter left the house and got into a car, police followed him, Flowers said.

A block away, officers attempted to pull him over. But Bangerter led police on a short chase that ended with Bangerter hit the police chief's car, Flowers said. No one was injured. Bangerter fled the car on foot, but was chased down by officers and arrested.

He was booked into the Washington County Jail on the outstanding warrant as well as on charges of interfering with police, failure to stop, reckless driving and driving on a suspended license.

The arrest warrant was issued on Aug. 27, 1997, after Bangerter failed to appear in Washington County's Fifth District Court for sentencing on a conviction of carrying a loaded firearm on the street and driving with a denied license, a court clerk said today.

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