Utah 'Mountain Man' Busted After Years of Burglaries

Cops corner survivalist Troy Knapp in remote mountains
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 3, 2013 3:19 AM CDT
Updated Apr 3, 2013 6:33 AM CDT
Utah 'Mountain Man' Busted After Years of Burglaries
A man identified as Troy James Knapp walks past a cabin in the remote southern Utah wildness near Zion National Park in this image taken from security video.   (AP Photo/Iron County Sheriff, File)

A survivalist has been busted after six years of being a one-man crime wave in Utah's mountains. Troy Knapp, 45, is a suspect in dozens of cabin burglaries, but after years of eluding authorities he was busted after bragging to a pair of hunters about being a "Mountain Man," the Salt Lake Tribune reports. After they reported the sighting, police tracked Knapp and captured him outside a remote cabin. Knapp fired at a police helicopter and tried to escape on snowshoes, but he gave himself up when he was cornered by dozens of officers on snowmobiles, the AP reports.

"He was laughing with our guys. He said, 'Boy, you really snuck up on me,' " the local sheriff says. "He threw his rifle down in the snow and said, 'You got me.'" Police believe Knapp spent winters living in mountain cabins and summers in remote deer camps, some of which were found abandoned with dozens of guns and high-end mountain gear stolen from cabins. In the cabins Knapp is suspected of breaking into, notes were left taunting the owners and threatening to kill local law enforcement officials. (More Troy Knapp stories.)

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