Uintah County Sheriff’s Office needs your help to get a violent criminal off the street
- Travis Uresk
- Mar 20
- 7 min read
By Travis Uresk
3/20/25
| Hayden, Ut. | January 8th, 2025 |
On December 19th 2024, at around 9:13 PM, Deputy Pratt was dispatched to a 9-1-1 unknown call North of the Hayden Cemetery, approximately 8500 North 1500 East. The caller stated he had located a dark-colored sedan parked in the middle of the road.
As the caller approached the vehicle, he witnessed a female with blood on her hands, face, and jacket standing on the east side of the road and a male subject standing on the west side of the road. The caller rolled down his window to speak with the female and asked if she was okay, and the female told him that the male had a gun.
The caller said this is when he drove away and called 9-1-1. He believed the sedan had started following him after leaving the scene, but a short time later, he realized the vehicle behind him was not the same.
Deputy Pratt spoke with the caller directly on his cell phone, and he told the deputy he was parked near 2000 East on 7000 North and was waiting for him. The officer met the caller around 9:25 PM.
The deputy could see a car parked with its flashers on down the road, and the caller believed it was the vehicle in question. When Deputy Pratt arrived at the sedan, he activated his emergency lights and parked about 50 yards away.
The dark-colored Ford Fusion had all the doors closed, and no individuals were outside the car. Deputy Pratt used binoculars to look toward the vehicle while waiting for additional units and could see some movement inside the car from someone wearing a gray hoodie but no identifying details. Shortly after, Deputy Helms arrived.
The driver's door opens, and a person with pink shoes exits the driver's door, staying close to the vehicle. They get into the back seat before closing the front door from inside.
Once Deputy Fairey arrived, Deputy Helms and Deputy Pratt approached the vehicle in their patrol vehicles. Deputy Pratt used his PA system to call the individual out of the car.
After several requests, the individual exited the back seat. The officers could see it was a female with blood on her face and hoodie.
The officers had the victim walk to where Deputy Fairey was standing while Deputy Pratt and Deputy Helms cleared the vehicle to ensure no other occupants were inside. An ambulance was requested to evaluate the victim.
The female victim had a cut/hole in the middle of her upper lip in a star pattern. The split in her lip was consistent with blunt force trauma from some object, as well as a swollen goose egg with blood on her forehead. She had blood on her hoodie, hands, sleeves, and chest area.
The deputies didn’t see a male on scene at any time.
After additional units arrived, it was determined the officers needed to search the surrounding area and abandoned buildings for the male, who the victim identified as 45-year-old Francisco Andrade Santio.
While the deputies spoke to the victim, she stated it was her brother Francisco who had a gun when they were drinking while he was driving them to Whiterocks. She said they began to argue, and Francisco "went crazy" and then assaulted her. She recalled he had a gun but did not remember it being fired.
The victim was intoxicated, and despite asking her multiple times, she could not provide further details about the assault.
Deputy Pratt spoke with the victim inside the ambulance, and she asked for her cell phone. He went to the car to look for it and saw dried blood smeared on the center console, stereo, and gear shift area. The stereo screen was smashed and covered in dried blood.
There was also a bag of suspected marijuana on the front passenger floorboard in plain view. On the passenger seat were two spent 9mm casings in plain view next to a black ski mask.
The victim's severely damaged and bloody phone was wedged between the seat and the door seal. The deputy left the phone in the vehicle and went back to the ambulance to continue speaking with the victim. He informed her that her phone was badly damaged.
The victim mentioned her ears were ringing and hurt, but she couldn't provide details of the incident. She repeatedly stated Francisco was driving and took the keys when he left. She did not know where he went after leaving her in the vehicle, seemed confused about her location, and had a hard time remembering events.
A records check showed Francisco had a violent criminal history, including aggravated assaults and a felony conviction. With the victims about Francisco having a gun and finding casings, Deputy Pratt continued investigating charges of restricted persons in possession of a firearm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and drug possession.
Sgt. Watkins and other deputies searched the area for Francisco.
After determining the extent of evidence in the car, including blood, drugs, and shell casings, it was decided to seize the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the Naples City Police Department substation and unloaded. Sergeant Watkins used evidence tape to seal the car.
After refusing medical treatment, the victim agreed to accompany Deputy Pratt to the Sheriff's Office for an interview with a Detective. The officers collected the victim's bloody hoodie as evidence. Due to the amount of blood on the hoodie, Deputy Pratt was concerned the blood could also be from Francisco since he was still outstanding.
Detective Leishman took photographs of the victim while she was speaking with her.
The victim told the detective that she and Francisco left her house and were going to someone's house in Whiterocks, where they they were going to continue drinking. She originally stated that no one was at the house they were going to, and they were on their way home when Francisco started acting “crazy" with her.
The officers felt the victim was still very intoxicated and possibly needed further medical treatment. An on-call victim advocate was called and met the officers at the Sheriff’s Office, and later transported the victim to the hospital for an additional evaluation.
Deputy Pratt followed them to the hospital, where the doctor ordered multiple tests to be conducted on the victim. After a CT scan was reviewed, it was determined that the victim had experienced trauma to her brain, and the doctor was going to contact a Nero surgeon for more specialized treatment.
Once It appeared that the victim might be admitted, the deputy left the hospital.
A short time later, Deputy Pratt was informed by the victim's advocate that the victim had signed a release, refused treatment, and left the ER.
On 12/20/24, Deputy Pratt returned to the location of the incident in daylight to search for any additional evidence that may have been missed in the dark. He had Duchesne County Deputy Priebe meet him at the location with his K9, which detects firearms.
Deputy Priebe and his K9 searched both sides of the road where the car was parked, but the K9 did not indicate a firearm in the area, which led them to believe Francisco kept the gun in his possession when he fled the scene.
Deputy Pratt walked around the surrounding properties looking for anything out of the ordinary or evidence. He located one beer can that appeared to be fresh and a bottle of tequila on both sides of the road. Nothing else was found in the area.
The deputy spoke with the victim on the phone and asked again if she could tell him what she could remember from the night before. The victim's story remained very similar and lacked details about the assault.
The victim stated that she remembered Francisco telling her that earlier in the day, he was with his girlfriend, and there was another guy around whom Francisco had his gun pointed toward to scare him away. The victim was unable to tell Deputy Pratt who Francisco's girlfriend was, who the male was, where the incident took place, or any more description or details about the incident.
When the deputy asked the victim about what they were drinking, she said they were drinking beer and tequila.
The victim was asked if she had heard from Francisco since the incident, and she stated that she hadn't heard from him and had no idea where he would have gone.
Deputy Pratt conducted a search of Francisco's motor vehicle records. The records show that he drives a 2016 Toyota Scion, registered to him in green, with the license plate number H256GZ.
On 12/26/2024, Deputy Pratt submitted a search warrant, approved by the 8th district court Judge, to search the victim's Ford Fusion for additional evidence related to the assaults, weapons violation, and drug possession. The warrant was executed on 12/30/2024 by Deputy Pratt and Detective Leishman.
Additional evidence collected included three shell casings, two from the front seat and one from the back seat, the bag of marijuana, the ski mask, and blood evidence, as well as an alcoholic beverage can from under the front driver's seat, which had blood on it. The bullet holes in the sunroof and the shell casings found inside the vehicle could explain why the victim's ears were hurting and ringing.
On 1/2/2025, the deputy met with the victim where her car was being stored so she could remove her wallet and some personal items from the vehicle. She wasn't able to find her spare key and was working with a locksmith to re-key the ignition.
Deputy Pratt asked her if she remembered details about the firearm being shot inside the vehicle, and she didn't remember the gun being fired. He told her about the three bullet holes in her sunroof, which she hadn't noticed.
On 1/6/2025, Deputy Pratt spoke to the victim again about her head injuries. She stated that she did not have any head injuries recently and that the injuries she had that night were from the assault by Francisco. She knew Francisco had the gun with him, and she was threatened by him having the gun with him during the assault.
On 1/8/2025, Deputy Pratt attempted to contact Francisco multiple times on his phone number but was unsuccessful in finding him.
Upon the foregoing information, Deputy Pratt is requesting a Warrant of Arrest for Francisco Santio for Possession of Marijuana- 58-37-3 for the marijuana inside the vehicle. Possession of Firearm by a restricted person- 76-10-503 (1)(a)- Felony 3-As Francisco has been convicted of a felony assault prior to this incident. Aggravated Assault-76-5-103(2)(3)B, due to the brain trauma found on the victim's CT scan and having the pistol during the assault.
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