WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, Oct. 15, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — An 18-year-old Florida man has been arrested after an exchange of gunfire between two vehicles potentially paralyzed a 17-year-old and came within a foot of hitting a 3-year-old inside a West Valley City home early Saturday.
Nadiel Alexander Arroyo, 18, was arrested for investigation of felony discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony, following a shooting outside an undisclosed West Valley City residence about 4 a.m.
West Valley City police say gunfire was exchanged between two vehicles — one red and one blue — following an altercation outside a nightclub. Occupants from both vehicles were detained and interviewed by police, according to a probable cause statement filed in 3rd District Court.
The 17-year-old driver of one of the vehicles suffered a gunshot wound to his arm and side, and was taken to an area hospital for treatment, police said. Aside from Arroyo, all occupants of the two vehicles were juveniles, according to police.
Police say Arroyo told them he arrived in Utah on Friday to visit family and was invited to a party at a club Saturday night. He left the club after learning there was a fight taking place in the parking lot, and bouncers later refused to allow him back in, Arroyo’s arrest documents say.
Police say Arroyo got into the blue vehicle with an acquaintance and left the parking lot, quickly followed by the red vehicle.
Arroyo told police he was in the back seat of the blue vehicle and stopped at a red light when the red vehicle “turned and blocked their car, exposing their passenger door,” the affidavit says.
When a window of the red car rolled down, a man pointed a gun at Arroyo and the other occupants of the blue vehicle, police said.
“[The] driver of [the blue] vehicle … attempted to drive away just as the red vehicle flipped around,” the police statement continues. “[Arroyo] stated as the red vehicle flipped around, it crashed into a light pole on the opposite side of the road.”
Arroyo told police two men got out of the red vehicle and shot at him, arrest documents say.
“[Arroyo] stated he grabbed a gun that was lying on the floorboard next to him, pointed it out the window to the sky and fired a 2-3 shots to deter the other males from shooting,” the statement continues.
Police said one of the men in the red vehicle was hit by gunfire, “paralyzing him,” the affidavit says. All occupants of the red vehicle refused to talk with police, court documents say.
Police say one of the rounds fired by Arroyo was in the direction of a home, “entered in next to a window, through a bed headboard [before] finally lodging in a wall across the room.”
A 3-year-old was in bed with his mother and father at the time, and the “bullet entered the headboard about a foot above their heads,” arrest documents say.
Officers found the red vehicle crashed into a power pole at 2833 S. 2700 West, West Valley City police said.
Taylorsville police officers located the blue vehicle, occupied by Arroyo and several juveniles, according to WVCPD. A gun also was found in the vehicle, police said.
Arroyo is being held without bail in the Salt Lake County jail system.
