This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
West Jordan • A Salt Lake City man was sentenced Thursday to serve up to life in prison for trying to kill a Unified Police officer in 2015, which prompted the officer to shoot and wound an innocent bystander moments later.
Judge Douglas Hogan sentenced 34-year-old Jeremy Michael Bowden in 3rd District Court to serve consecutive sentences for attempted aggravated murder, a first-degree felony; receiving a stolen vehicle, a second-degree felony; and obstructing justice, a second-degree felony — for a total of eight years to life in the Utah State Prison.
Bowden was also sentenced to serve time consecutively for four counts of third-degree felony discharge of a firearm and was sentenced to time served in one count of class A misdemeanor failing to stop at the command of a police officer.
Rochelle Tsouras, the wife of the Officer Cory Tsouras whom Bowden shot at, read a letter during the sentencing that described the way Bowden's actions had affected her.
"You almost robbed me of my best friend," she told Bowden. She said she forgave him and, noting Bowden's history of criminal activity, she urged him to make better choices in the "uphill battle" that lies ahead. For his part, Bowden apologized in court "to everyone here."
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry to the family," he said.
A jury found Bowden guilty of the charges Feb. 3 after a four-day trial.
Witnesses said that at about 8:15 p.m., on Oct. 30, 2015, a Unified Police officer located a stolen truck in the parking lot of a Midvale business at 38 W. 7200. When a man approached the truck and the officer confronted him, the man fled on foot, according to trial testimony. Moments later, Tsouras pulled his police vehicle parallel to where Bowden was running, and Bowden fired five window-shattering shots at the car. One of the bullets lodged in Tsouras' bullet-proof vest and another hit the driver's seat headrest.
Tsouras sped up to put distance between him and the shooter, parking near a car wash at 150 W. 7200 South. After he exited his car, Tsouras spotted a man who was dressed like the shooter crouched beneath an awning. The man had a dark object in his hands — later identified as a lanyard and set of car keys — and refused to comply with orders to show his hands, Tsouras said.
Tsouras fired six to eight times at the man, later identified as 30-year-old Dustin Evans, who had pulled his vehicle into the car wash as Tsouras was under fire.
Evans, who suffered injuries to his hand and leg from two bullets, filed a notice of claim against Salt Lake County in April through his attorney Rocky Anderson.
In June, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office cleared Tsouras of any criminal wrongdoing.
When officers realized Evans was not the suspect, they set up a containment area and used a stun gun to arrest Bowden.
The judge told Bowden Thursday he appreciated his apology to the court. But, Hogan said, "what you do with your life from this point forward will speak louder than the words that you said today."
Twitter: @mnoblenews