This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The criminal case against Abdullahi "Abdi" Mohamed, who was shot by police last year, will move forward after a juvenile judge Monday ruled there was probable cause that the then 17-year-old boy committed the crimes.

Mohamed was shot by police Feb. 27 outside a downtown Salt Lake City homeless shelter. Prosecutors allege that officers opened fire after seeing the teen assaulting a man with a hollow metal rod in a dispute about a drug purchase. He was charged in juvenile court with first-degree felony robbery and second-degree felony possession of drugs with intent to distribute.

After preliminary hearing testimony about the alleged assault and the subsequent police response, 3rd District Judge Julie Lund ruled there was enough evidence for the case to move forward. Lund will determine at a hearing next month whether Mohamed's case will stay in juvenile court or move to the adult system.

Mohamed, now 18, is accused of assaulting a man who had asked to buy a marijuana cigarette from him for $1.10 near The Road Home shelter, 210 S. Rio Grande St. (440 West). That man, Kelly McRae, testified Monday that when he asked Mohamed for a joint, the teen pulled out a pill jar with what McRae thought were other drugs.

"It wasn't what I was looking for," McRae testified. "… [Mohamed] continued to pester me, saying, 'I want that money. Give me that money.' "

McRae testified that Mohamed appeared to be upset because "I was taking up his time," and McRae said he offered Mohamed a metal rod in an attempt to get him to leave.

But after following Mohamed to meet with another man, McRae testified that the teen started assaulting him with the metal rod, which has been described as a handle for a mop, rake or a broom.

Salt Lake City police Officers Kory Checketts and Jordan Winegar spotted this assault while in the area investigating a report of a stolen cellphone, they testified Monday.

Their body-cam videos — which were publicly released after the court hearing — depict the two officers running toward the assault scene, yelling "Put it down," "Drop it," and in one instance, "Police!" The video shows the second man notice the officers and walk away from the assault, while Mohamed continues toward McRae.

"He never turned," Checketts testified of Mohemed. "He never acknowledged us."

Winegar testified that Mohamed "kept advancing" on McRae, despite the police officers' commands to stop.

As the officers yelled, McRae can be seen on the video backing up with his hands in the air as Mohamed moves toward him, the broom handle still in hand. As the officers fired their weapons, Mohamed immediately drops to the ground and the metal handle flies from his hands.

"At that point, I stopped the threat using my firearm," Checketts testified, adding that he felt Mohamed could have seriously injured McRae.

Mohamed — who arrived at the courthouse Monday in a wheelchair — was struck by four bullets, was in a medically induced coma and hospitalized for weeks.

McRae testified that he had large welts and bruises on his arms and back after the assault.

While McRae said the dispute began over drugs, Jonathan Holman, a friend of Mohamed's testified Monday that McRae had sexually harassed their friend. But once the fight started, Holman said he left because he didn't want to get into any trouble. Police ended up arresting and using a Taser on him later that night, however, after Holman threw rocks at police during a riot that broke out after the shooting.

Mohamed's attorney, Lacey Singleton, argued that the evidence showed that Mohamed, at most, committed an aggravated assault — not an aggravated robbery.

"What this was a long, drawn-out attempt to make a drug deal," Singleton argued, adding that Mohamed did not have enough drugs on him to qualify as "distribution."

But Deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Michael Colby argued that the body cam video showed Mohamed "relentlessly" pursuing McRae.

"Mohamed wanted the $1.10," he said. "McRae had refused to turn that money over."

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill has said that his office will seek to have the case moved to the adult system using Utah's Serious Youth Offender statute. The law allows prosecutors to push a case into adult court — and for youths to face the same consequences as if they were an adult — if the juvenile is 16 or 17 and has committed one of several designated felonies.

Because Mohamed faces a charge of aggravated robbery and was 17 at the time of the alleged offenses, his case qualifies. In August, Gill found that the two officers — both fired their weapons — were legally justified in the shooting.

But a month later, Salt Lake City's Civilian Review Board found that the actions of two officers were "not within" policy, according to the board's report.

The Salt Lake Tribune does not generally identify juveniles charged with a crime, but Mohamed's family publicly identified him in the wake of the police shooting.

jmiller@sltrib.com