Utah man being investigated for threatening to kill former US senator

SUMMIT COUNTY, UT — A Cottonwood Heights man was jailed after reportedly threatening to kill a former U.S. senator.  Investigators said the man appeared to be drunk and high when he was arrested. 

George Stahl was first spotted by Utah Highway Patrol (UHP) troopers heading east on I-80 at mile marker 145 in Summit County.  According to a probable cause statement, a UHP trooper clocked him traveling at 115 mph. 

The trooper reportedly chased Stahl, believing his high rate of speed was a danger to other drivers.  UHP spokesman, Lt. Nick Street said both Stahl and the trooper reached over 130 miles per hour before Stahl’s tires were spiked.

“In a 14-mile distance, which happens pretty fast at those speeds, we were able to get the vehicle spiked,” Street said.

Arrest documents indicate that when finally stopped Stahl was belligerent and smelled of alcohol.  The documents also state that Stahl claimed to be on his way to Missouri for a very specific reason.

“The individual was pretty adamant that they were on their way to kill [former] Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill,” Street said.  Arrest documents show that Stahl made that same threat three times.  

Investigators said they found two twelve-packs of beer in Stahl’s vehicle and an unknown substance that they believe was Lysergic acid diethylamide or, LSD.  Police said Stahl admitted he had been using LSD and Adderall.

Even if Stahl was highly intoxicated when he made those statements, Street said his department will still have to investigate whether the threats were actually made.

“We look at numerous things, like a past pattern of behavior, any open-source social media posts they’ve made and organizations they may belong to,” he said.  “If the assessment metric shows us that this is something more serious than the ramblings of someone on LSD, then we will take appropriate action.”

Stahl was booked into the Summit County Jail for suspicion of DUI, possession of a controlled substance, reckless driving and making a terrorist threat.