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SALT LAKE CITY -- Charges were filed Friday in connection with the deputy-involved shooting at Green Street Social Club in September, but not against the deputy who fired his weapon or the man who was shot.
The charges involve a crime that investigators say spawned the incident. Chief Salt Lake City prosecutor Sim Gill says 21-year-old Arnold Pikula walked up to an officer, who was trying to control the crowd, and struck him square in the jaw.
"He was hit in the face -- it's alleged in the jaw -- and as a result, he fell backwards," Gill says.
But prosecutors say it was Arnold Pikula's actions earlier in the evening that spawned the argument that landed his brother in the hospital with a gunshot wound. Gill says he sexually assaulted a woman in Deputy Rudy Chacon's group, sparking a feud.
"It is alleged that this person approached this individual who was at the bar and reached over and grabbed her breast, and thereby committing the battery," Gill explains.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Lohra Miller says J.J. Pikula attacked Chacon's brother. Chacon then fired his gun to save his brother's life.
Miller says Chacon admitted he had been drinking, but she will not release his blood alcohol level. She adds that investigators determined he was not intoxicated based on witness statements.
On Thursday, Miller's office cleared Chacon of any criminal wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, surveillance video of the brawl is not being released, as it is part of the city's case against Arnold Pikula.
"He's been charged with one count of sexual battery -- class A misdemeanor -- and one count of assault against a police officer, which is a class A misdemeanor," Gill says.
There have been no charges filed by either the district attorney's office or the city prosecutor's office against J.J. Pikula for his involvement in the fight.
E-mail: jstagg@ksl.com
