UPDATE: Farmington Police are asking the public for help locating Joseph Lee Chatwin, the fugitive who allegedly escaped from police custody by wriggling free of his handcuffs and kicking out the window of a squad car. It happened on Tuesday at the Lagoon Campground.

Chatwin is wanted on a no-bail warrant for parole violation and is likely to be charged with multiple misdemeanors and felonies when he is caught, said Layton Police Lt. Parish Snyder.

Chatwin is a 6-foot white male who weighs about 210 pounds. He has brown hair and eyes. Police think he is most likely staying in Salt Lake City, where he lives and has many associates.

Call Farmington Police at 801-451-4151 with any information.

FARMINGTON — A 40-year-old male suspect is still on the loose after he managed to escape from police while in handcuffs on Tuesday.

However, his female companion was booked in the Davis County Jail, after she, too, managed to escape custody.

Shauntae Leah Stratton, 23, was booked into the Davis County Jail on multiple charges of theft, vehicle burglary, unlawful use of a credit card, escape and receiving stolen property.

Farmington Police Lt. Parish Snyder said the convoluted string of events started last month with a string of vehicle burglaries at Lagoon in which credit cards were taken and used at stores in Station Park.

Surveillance photos showed a male and female. Snyder said the information was shared with law enforcement agencies along the Wasatch Front, and police in West Jordan said the pair matched the description of a couple who had allegedly purchased a 31-foot Bounder motor home with a counterfeit check. Snyder said West Jordan police contacted Farmington police on Tuesday morning. Police believed they were staying in the motor home.

“On a hunch, our officer drove to the Lagoon Campground where he found the motor home and went to question the couple,” Snyder said. The officer also found a motorcycle and trailer that had been stolen in Salt Lake County.  The  man fled on foot, but police were able to catch him, Snyder said.

 Officers took the female into custody in a separate car. Both were handcuffed, Snyder said.

That initial police work was “good cop work,” Snyder said.

What happened next kept police busy for some time.

Snyder said police put the woman in a holding cell, but she was allegedly combative and  managed to get the cell door open. She allegedly fled to Woodland Park, across from the police station, where police were able to track her with the help of a K-9 unit.

Even then, Snyder said, she allegedly tried to flee, and officers had to bind her arms and legs.

Meanwhile, the man was allegedly able to kick the window out of the patrol car. He ran across the street to a residential area where he allegedly stole a 2007 Hummer. 

That vehicle was later found in Salt Lake County.

mwilliams@davisclipper.com