WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, June 16, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — A West Vally City police officer has been cleared of wrongdoing in the August 2022 shooting of a 40-year-old man with a history of assaulting law enforcement.
Mitchell Van Halsey was shot and injured by police Aug. 7, 2022, outside Salt Lake’s Indoor Swapmeet, 1500 W. 3500 South, following an alleged assault and robbery nearby in a parking lot at Carl’s Jr., 3469 S. Redwood Road.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill on Friday declined to filed charges against the officer who shot Van Halsey. The full findings of the district attorney’s investigation were not released as the criminal case against Van Halsey is ongoing.
Police say Van Halsey was on a bicycle when he approached two men in the parking lot and said he wanted to sell a speaker. When one of the man expressed interest in buying the speaker, Van Halsey pulled a gun and shot at the man, grazing his scalp, charging documents state.
The man then got up, pulled $60 from his pocket and dropped it on the ground before heading inside the Carl’s Jr. to get help, charges state.
West Valley City and Taylorsville police officers later caught up with Van Halsey outside the swap meet, according to charging documents. Following a confrontation, the man was shot by a West Valley City officer, charges state.
Van Halsey was “holding what appeared to be a firearm in his hand before falling to the ground,” according to the charges.
Officers recovered a handgun near the man and provided medical aid, charges state. He was later taken to an area hospital before being released and booked into jail.
Van Halsey was charged Aug. 11, 2022, with aggravated robbery with use of a weapon, a first-degree felony; felony discharge of a firearm, a second-degree felony; and possession or use of a firearm by a restricted person, a third-degree felony.
Van Halsey has an extensive criminal history in Utah that includes 63 arrests and four previous convictions for assaulting police officers, charges state.
