LAYTON, Utah, Jan. 7, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A guest at an airbnb allegedly wielded a gun and made threats to kill a father with his 7-year-old daughter in an adjoining unit, and even called dispatch to report the presence of the other guests.
Thomas Murphy was arrested on Dec. 30 for investigation of:
- Property damage/destruction, loss of $1,500 to $4,999, a third-degree felony
- Carry a dangerous weapon under the influence alcohol/drugs, a class B misdemeanor
- Threat of violence, a class B misdemeanor
- Intoxication, a class B misdemeanor
Murphy’s affidavit, filed by an officer of the Layton City Police Department, says that Murphy told officers he had been drinking “all day” when he became aware that there was another family renting an adjoining unit in the basement of the home.
A door between the units was locked, the statement says.
“Thomas became irate that there were people in that unit and called dispatch to report them, at which point he told the Layton dispatch that he was going to ‘kick the door in’,” the affidavit says.
“Thomas was then seen on video surveillance from the home with a handgun in his hand. He walked down around the back of the house and knocked on the sliding glass door with the firearm in his hand. Thomas made contact with … a 7-year-old girl who was staying in the second rental unit with her father.”
Thomas then returned to the upper unit “and began pounding on the shared (locked) doorway between the two units,” the statement says. The other man asked what Murphy wanted, “and Thomas began screaming to him through the door that he would ‘f***ing kill his a**,’ repeatedly.”
The victim then called dispatch and the airbnb owner to report what was happening. He then “heard wood breaking and glass shattering in the upstairs unit (that was being rented by Thomas). Thomas broke the entire banister that holds a wooden handrail leading to the shared door.”
The police statement says Murphy also went to the kitchen of his unit and smashed out two panes of glass in windows over the sink.
When officers talked to Murphy, “he made a statement to me that he had taken his firearm and approached the downstairs sliding glass door with it when he observed a child inside of that unit,” the affidavit says. “Thomas also said that he destroyed the handrail and the glass windows out of anger and frustration regarding the people in the shared unit. The damage to the railing and the two plate glass windows was estimated to be in excess of $1,500.
“Finally, Thomas made multiple statements to me and other officers on scene that he was ‘wasted’ and ‘drunk.'”
A breath test administered by officers showed Murphy’s alcohol level at 0.235. He was booked into the Davis County jail. He has since been released.
