Wanted fugitive with alleged ties to ‘white supremacist gang’ arrested in Bluffdale hotel

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (ABC4) — Taylorsville detectives tracked a wanted fugitive linked to a “white supremacist gang” to Bluffdale where they successfully took him and two accomplices into custody, according to the Taylorsville Police Department.

On Thursday, March 13, Taylorsville street crime detectives found a fugitive with multiple felony warrants, identified as Michael Barney, and tracked him to a Salt Lake City apartment “where he was believed to have stolen firearms.”

Police said before they could execute a search warrant for the apartment, the suspect and two accomplices, one of which police identified as Brittany Cesspooch, fled the area in a vehicle.

Authorities tracked the car by air and noted that the driver dropped off Barney and an accomplice at a hotel near 1400 West 14000 South in Bluffdale. Detectives then spiked the vehicle and took the driver into custody.

Once a search warrant was obtained for the hotel, detectives approached Barney and the other accomplice who allegedly “surrendered after negotiations.”

According to police, materials for a “clandestine drug lab” were found in the hotel room, as well as a stolen firearm and drug paraphernalia. The Salt Lake City apartment also allegedly contained a second firearm, fentanyl, marijuana, methamphetamine, and drug lab materials.

Police did not identify the second accomplice or elaborate on the claim that Barney is connected to a white supremacist gang.