This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Three Salt Lake City police officers were assaulted during a three-hour period Tuesday in the area of the city's downtown homeless shelter — and that night, a man was stabbed and seriously injured during a fight.
Police reported that at about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, officers were called to the shelter, near 200 S. Rio Grande St. (500 West) because a man was refusing to leave the property.
While officers were escorting the man away, he threw a water bottle at one of the officers, nearly hitting him in the head.
While in the back seat of the patrol car, the man yelled that he wished he had a gun so he could shoot the officer in the back. No officers were injured.
The 66-year-old man was booked into the Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of assault on a police officer and threats of violence.
At about 9 a.m., an officer was flagged down by a citizen reporting that a woman had her property. When the officer placed the woman in handcuffs, she refused to comply with commands, police reported. And as she was being assisted to the ground, she kicked the officer in the knee. The 34-year-old woman was booked into jail on suspicion of assault on a police officer, theft of mislaid property and interference.
At about 10:45 a.m., a woman approached officers working foot patrol in the area of the shelter and took a swing at one of them, police reported.
She was taken into custody after a brief struggle and placed in the back of a police car, where she then tried to kick out the windows. The woman, who refused to give her name, was booked into jail.
At about 11:40 p.m. officers responded to a fight at the shelter and located a 54-year-old man with a stab wound to his chest. Several witnesses identified the suspect, a 55-year-old man who was booked on suspicion of aggravated assault and possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person. The victim was taken to a hospital in serious condition.