Man shot by police now facing criminal charges


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SALT LAKE CITY — A man shot by Salt Lake police officers after allegedly pointing a weapon at them earlier this month has now been charged with assault.

Salvador M. Flores, 30, of Salt Lake City, was charged last week in 3rd District Court with two counts of assault on a police officer, a second-degree felony; possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a second-degree felony; and interfering with an arresting officer, a class B misdemeanor.

On March 3, a witness saw a man and woman in a white truck in the parking lot of 7-Eleven, 535 E. 1700 South. The woman went inside while the truck drove off, and she asked the clerk about something to "fix a flat" even though the truck's tires were all good, according to charging documents. The witness told investigators he then saw the truck "coasting towards the store with its lights out" and come to a stop on the curb without using brakes.

Because the witness thought the couple was casing the store to possibly rob it, he called police.

Officers Michael Ruff and Treavor Hansen found the vehicle near 1125 S. State and pulled it over. Two more officers arrived shortly after as backup.

Officers approached both the driver side, where Flores was sitting, and the passenger side of the vehicle where a woman, Amal Hourieh, was sitting. The officers noticed what appeared to be a shotgun on the floorboard and asked both occupants to step out of the truck, the charges state.

Ruff asked Flores to get out of the truck but said he was initially non-compliant. As Flores exited, officer D. Carlson noticed a holster and bulge near his right hip, according to the charges.

"Officer Ruff grabbed Flores by the arm and he spun away and pulled what appeared to be a pistol from his waistband," the charges state. The weapon was later determined to be an Airsoft gun, "modified to appear like a real handgun."

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Ruff pushed Flores away and yelled, "Gun!"

The charging documents do not mention that another officer then fired multiple rounds, hitting Flores twice in the torso. The court papers also do not indicate which officer fired the shots.

Although the weapon Flores was allegedly holding was an Airsoft gun, officers also found a loaded 1911 model handgun in the holster on his hip, according to charging documents.

The shooting is still under review by the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office to determine if it was legally justified.

Investigators later searched Flores' truck and discovered that the weapon on the floor was a "makeshift gun," according to court documents. In addition, police said they located another plastic gun that was modified to look real in the center console along with a holdup note.

Two of the officers were wearing body cameras and recorded the confrontation. However, unlike a shooting earlier this year in the Avenues, the man involved in this incident was not fatally wounded and there will be criminal proceedings against him. Because of that, Salt Lake police announced that even though they had originally intended to release the video right away, they will not be releasing the body camera footage for now pending the criminal proceedings against Flores.

Flores was released from the hospital and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on March 10.

Utah court records show Flores was convicted last year on amended charges of attempted possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and attempted drug possession. An arrest warrant was issued, however, after he failed to show up for sentencing. That sentencing has now been rescheduled for April 6.

He was also convicted on a federal firearms charge in 2007 but was sentenced to time already served, according to court records. In that incident, police pulled Flores over and found he had a knife clipped to his belt and two syringes in his pocket.

Flores also had a warrant out for his arrest from Salt Lake Justice Court for charges of assault in a domestic violence-related event from 2014.

Flores used to go by the name Salvador Flores Miranda. Under that name, he was convicted of burglary, a second-degree felony, in 2007 in Summit County, according to court records. He was sentenced to 45 days in jail and a suspended one-to-15-year prison sentence, but was later found to be in violation of his probation.

In 2009 he was convicted of aggravated assault but several other felonies were dismissed, including two counts of aggravated kidnapping. On the day his trial was to begin, he failed to show up to court. He was later taken into custody and a plea deal was arranged.

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