Charges are filed against area man accused of taking officer’s weapon
A criminal complaint was filed Friday morning in Yuma County Superior Court against the 41-yearold man who allegedly took an officer’s weapon during a physical altercation earlier this month. He was charged with a total of six felony offenses, including two counts of aggravated assault upon a police officer.
Appearing before Judge pro tem Pamela Walsma the day after his arrest, Ralph Sivyer was informed that he had also been charged with resisting arrest, possession of a weapon by a prohibited possessor, theft and aggravated assault, all of which stem from a June 12 incident in which two officers were injured.
According to Yuma police, the incident happened at about 11 p.m. while officers were trying to find Sivyer, who had a warrant out for his arrest on multiple felony charges from prior cases. He was eventually located in the 2000 block of South 11th Avenue, and when officers approached him, he took off running to his vehicle.
During the ensuing altercation, officers attempted to remove Sivyer from his vehicle, but police say he was able to get hold of an officer’s duty weapon and drive away with it in a 1999 black Nissan Maxima. The duty weapon is an S&W M&P 9 mm handgun.
Sivyer, who was considered armed and dangerous, was finally arrested at approximately 12:15 p.m. after a Yuma Sector Border Patrol agent spotted him in the area of Dome Valley trying to circumvent the immigration checkpoint on Interstate 8.
An agent followed the vehicle until it pulled off the road on Interstate 8 east of Telegraph Pass in the eastbound lane. When the agent came back around, he saw that the vehicle was unoccupied.
After waiting for backup to arrive, agents began searching the area and found Sivyer about 100 yards off the roadway. He was taken into custody without incident and turned over to the Yuma Police Department by the Department of Public Safety.
Sivyer also made his initial appearance in Yuma Justice Court on charges stemming from his arrest, just hours after his arraignment in Superior Court.
Standing with an attorney from the Yuma County Public Defender’s Office by his side, Sivyer listened as Walsma read the charges he was arrested on, which were possession of a weapon by a prohibited possessor and possession or sale of a firearm.
“I do find there is enough probable cause for arrest,” Walsma said.
The county attorney’s office now has two days to review the case and determine whether to file a criminal complaint against Sivyer, charging him with any of the offenses.
Walsma set Sivyer’s bail as a $25,000 cash-only bond, the same amount she set at his previous hearing earlier the same morning.