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MAGNA — A Magna man who tried to break up a fight near his home was arrested himself after police say he shot at one of the fighting men who was trying to drive away.
On Sunday, police say a 59-year-old man near 8800 West and 3100 South walked out of his home and across two streets to "help a person who was being physically assaulted by another." In an attempt to break up the fight, the man "shot up to three rounds at the person who was assaulting the other victim," according to a police booking affidavit.
At that point, the two men, who police say knew each other stopped fighting and the man who was the aggressor got into a truck to drive away, said Unified Police Sgt. Melody Cutler. But as he was driving away, the gunman who had walked over to break up the fight fired one round into the fleeing vehicle, "missing the victim driver's head by only inches," according to the affidavit.
The man, who police say does have a concealed carry permit, claimed that the driver put his truck in reverse and that "he fired in self-defense," the affidavit states.
Cutler, however, said detectives determined that the driver was not armed and was trying to leave the area. The gunman was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of illegal discharge of a firearm and aggravated assault. Neither of the two men who were originally fighting were arrested.
