SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, July 31, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — A 34-year-old man was arrested after a Sunday SWAT response to an apartment building just west of Salt Lake City’s Fairpark neighborhood.
Salt Lake City police responded after a 7:35 p.m. call to dispatch about a man threatening people with a knife. Officers responded to the multi-building complex, near 1740 W. 400 North, according to information from the SLCPD.
According to court documents, a man who was later identified as Delmar Castillo walked over to another man who had been invited to a gathering and held a metal kitchen knife close to the man’s throat and chest, “and stated ‘I am going to f—–g kill you.’
“(The) victim was able to get out of the apartment with his girlfriend,” the police statement says. “Victim’s girlfriend saw the encounter and (Castillo) stated to her that he was going to kill her too.”
The couple left the apartment and called dispatch. Police knocked on the door and tried to reach Castillo by phone, but he did not answer the door or phone, his probable cause statement says. A SWAT team was contacted, but Castillo reportedly declined to talk with the negotiator.
“After obtaining a court-authorized search warrant, the SWAT team safely took Castillo into custody,” his affidavit says. “Officers took Castillo to the Salt Lake County Metro Jail.”
Castillo was booked for investigation of aggravated assault and obstruction of justice, both third-degree felonies.
Castillo had “access to a .38 mm handgun but (it) was not used during the aggravated assault,” charging documents say, adding that Castillo “was intoxicated and stated he had smoked weed and has had 12 beers to drink tonight.”
He also stated that he and the victim were friends, Castillo’s court documents say. His bail was set at $2,500.
