Two men sentenced for beating, pistol whipping another man

Two Midvale men charged with beating and pistol-whipping a man last year have been sentenced — one to prison time, the other to jail.

The attack initially left the victim hospitalized with spinal fractures and other injuries. Charging documents add that the victim also had a visible imprint of a shoe on the left side of his forehead and that he suffered a concussion.

Joseph Russell Mikulski, 40, and Zachary Alan Wood, 26, each were charged in 3rd District Court with one count of second-degree felony aggravated assault for the episode on May 15, 2016, in which they intervened in an argument between the victim and his girlfriend at the couple’s residence near 7000 West and 8600 South in Midvale.

Mikulski also was charged with second-degree felony counts of drug possession and theft by receiving stolen property, third-degree felony possession of a firearm by a restricted person and a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia count.

Wood, 25, also was charged with one count of second-degree felony drug possession by a restricted person.

They each pleaded guilty to third-degree felony counts of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a restricted person.

Police say Mikulski and Wood were on an upper floor of the home when the couple began to argue. According to witnesses, they came downstairs and began to hit and kick the victim in the face and back, including “stomping” on his head and back.

Witnesses also told police that both men used handguns — a .9mm and a loaded .380 Sig Sauer pistol — to beat the victim around the head, and at one point they dragged him upstairs and pulling his shirt up over his face so he could not see.

A police search of the residence revealed drug paraphernalia, cash, illegal and prescription drugs, a Taser, identification documents belonging to other people and the Sig Sauer, inside a locked safe. Police later determined the gun, which was loaded with six bullets, had been reported stolen out of South Salt Lake, charges state.

Mikulski was sentenced earlier this month to concurrent zero-to-five-year prison terms.

Wood was sentenced in November to 270 days in jail as part of a 36 month probation.

Both defendants were ordered to pay restitution of more than $9,500.