This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A 23-year-old man accused of attacking two Salt Lake City police officers with a wrought-iron lawn ornament — severing one officer's ear, which was later reattached — has been charged with assault.
Leon Dane Hall was charged Monday in 3rd District Court with two counts of second-degree felony assault against a peace officer and one class B misdemeanor interference with an arresting officer.
No court dates had been set as of Tuesday morning, and Hall remained at the Salt Lake County Jail in lieu of $75,000 bail.
The episode began early Feb. 2, when police were called to the Pauline Apartments, 120 S. 300 East, where Hall reportedly had been pounding on an apartment door, charges state.
Two officers responded. One of them quickly perceived that Hall's pupils appeared dilated and that he appeared to be under the influence of drugs, charges state. The officer also smelled marijuana.
During questioning by the officers, Hall refused to say where he lived or show them ID, the charges state, and when told by the officers to simply leave, Hall refused.
When the officers attempted to arrest Hall, the man yelled at them to stop touching him and again refused to show ID, claiming he did not have any, charges state.
When the officers started pushing Hall toward their patrol car, Hall began to swing at the officers, charges state. The officers ordered Hall to stop resisting and one officer used his baton on Hall's thigh and lower leg to try to gain compliance.
Hall continued resisting and shouted, "Stop" and "Help," charges state, and one officer again used his baton in an attempt to get Hall's hands behind his back to handcuff him.
The officers them took Hall to the ground.
At that point, one officer saw a metal object in Hall's hand, which Hall swung, hitting one officer, Tyler Bang, and inflicting two gashes to his head — one of which severed the lower portion of his ear.
Hall also swung the object at the other officer, but missed, charges state.
At that point, other officers arrived and took Hall into custody.
Both Bang and Hall ended up in the hospital.
Both were released later that day — the officer after his ear was surgically reattached and Hall after treatment for minor injuries suffered in the struggle.
Meanwhile, Salt Lake City police confirmed last week that they were investigating whether excessive force was used in arresting Hall.
Before the clash with police, Hall's criminal history had been long, but mostly minor: misdemeanor drug possession, interfering with a police officer, criminal mischief, destruction of property, disorderly conduct, driving without a license and leaving the scene of an injury accident.
SLCPD has stated that the officers involved in Hall's arrest were wearing body cameras and that footage from those devices would be reviewed both by an internal departmental investigation and a separate probe by the Civilian Review Board.
Hall's brother, Eli Hall, told gaysaltlake.com, which posted a purported video of the arrest, that his sibling was wrong in assaulting the officer, but suffers from schizophrenia — and brain damage from the 2011 assault.
Hall made headlines in August 2011, when he claimed to have been the target of a still-unsolved gay-bashing attack outside a Salt Lake City dance club. Subsequent investigation, however, led detectives to question if Hall had actually been beaten over a drug dispute, not sexual orientation.
Twitter: @remims