SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, July 23, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — A man is facing multiple charges after he allegedly discharged a gun outside a church then resisted arrest and damaged a patrol car Monday evening.
A probable cause statement from Salt Lake County 3rd District Court said Carl Samuel Boyack, 34, is facing charges of purchase, transfer, possession or use of a firearm by a restricted person, a third-degree felony; damage of jail, a third-degree felony; assault against a police officer, a class A misdemeanor; interfering with an officer, a class B misdemeanor; use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor; possession of a controlled substance, a class B misdemeanor; and illegal discharge of a firearm, a class B misdemeanor.
The alleged incident occurred outside an LDS church just after 6:15 p.m. in the area of 1567 S. Foothill Blvd., the statement said.
Police were dispatched on a “shots fired” call, and it was reported that one gunshot was heard, the statement said, and then a man had walked into an apartment building with “possibly a rifle or shotgun.”
It was reported that the man was currently on the south side of the church.
The arresting officer wrote in the statement: “I located the A/P (accused person) seated on the stairs, I observed the male’s hands did not contain a firearm. I did notice a yellow pipe, that appeared to be a marijuana pipe, in one of the A/P’s hands. I began to slowly approach A/P while talking with him, A/P had stated he was ‘smoking some f***ing weed.”
The arresting officer said the suspect then stood up from the stairs and began walking towards the officer in “an aggressive manner, swinging his arms and balling up his fists stating: ‘Come at me.'”
“The A/P later stated that he approached me because he was going to kill me,” the statement said. “A/P continued to walk towards me and I determined that to prevent A/P from committing violence or assaulting myself or officers, I tackled A/P by wrapping my arms around his waist area and taking him to the ground.”
The suspect then wrestled with the officer and other officers that arrived subsequently while he was on the ground, and would tense his limbs to prevent handcuffs being put on him, the statement said.
He was eventually put into handcuffs.
“The A/P was placed into the back of an assisting officer’s patrol vehicle,” the statement said. “While in the back of the vehicle A/P kicked the inside of the back door causing damage to the door.”
He then had to be further restrained for “his safety and to prevent more damage,” the statement said.
After being read his Miranda rights, Boyack “stated that he had taken his firearm out of his residence to clean it as there is dog hair in his residence,” the statement went on. “A/P stated that after he had cleaned it he accidentally discharged the firearm. A shotgun shell casing was found on church property.”
It was later determined that after discharging his shotgun into the ground near the church, Boyack had returned to his apartment leaving the shotgun and returned to the church.
A warrant was written for his residence and the shotgun was seized.
While searching the suspect, a packet of cigarettes containing a “marijuana joint” was allegedly found, as well as a yellow pipe that also contained burnt marijuana.
