Chester man will serve

a year in jail for assault

03-12-2020

MANTI—A Chester man accused of stabbing two family members with a knife during an argument has been ordered to serve 365 days in the county jail.

In a plea negotiation, Oscar Manuel Garcia, 22, pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated assault and one count of obstruction of justice; all charges are second or third-degree felonies. He was originally charged with attempted murder. He was also placed on 36 months of probation.

According to court records, Garcia fled the scene after he assaulted family members at the family’s mobile home in Chester on July 27. He remained a fugitive from justice until Aug. 19, when police found him hiding in a clothes dryer in the same house.

Acting on a tip, Sanpete County Sheriff’s Deputies went to the Garcia house where they met Garcia’s sister and girlfriend. The girls told the deputies that Garcia was in the trailer.

Deputies yelled into the trailer for Garcia for 10 minutes to come out, with no response. Deputies went into the trailer, where they found Garcia in the dryer with clothes draped over him, apparently trying to hide.