Salt Lake County Deputy Injured in Shootout

[TheeBadOne]

Deputy Brett Miller was responding to a domestic dispute call this morning when he came under fire from the suspect. Shotgun pellets hit the deputy Brett Miller in several different places, but tonight he is home and okay.

The deputy tried to pull the suspect over, next thing he knew he was hit in the head, chest and wrist. His bulletproof vest saved his life.

Shotgun casings on the ground and a windshield riddled with bullets help tell the story of two men shot in the early hours this morning. One was a deputy, now resting at home, the other a wanted felon, now sitting in jail.

Aaron Kennard, Sheriff, Salt Lake County: “The suspect was the aggressor. He attempted to run the deputy over. He got out of his vehicle shooting with a shotgun. The deputy returned fire.â€

Guy West, Eyewitness: “It scared us all pretty bad. I didn’t know if shots were going to come through our house or what was going to happen.â€

The call came in as a domestic dispute with an ID of the suspect. The deputy was able to stop 29-year old James Torres before he got to his ex-wife's house. That's when things got ugly.


Vanita Osborn, Eyewitness: “He was trying to get away and he was pulling the cop car with it because they were hooked together.â€

Salt Lake County deputies say the suspect in this case has an extensive criminal history. James Torres had $30,000 dollars worth of warrants against him when Deputy Miller tried to arrest him last night.

He had also been booked into jail at least twice in just the last four months. The charges include receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, possession of stolen property, carrying a concealed weapon, and violation of a protective order.

Tonight Torres faces an attempted murder charge.

article
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not many people can lay claim to surviving a shotgun blast!

 

[cordex]

How far was the perp from the officer?

Lucky guy. Glad the deputy was in good enough condition to be able to be treated and go home. Pity he was injured at all.

What does "$30,000 dollars worth of warrants" mean? That he'd skipped out on $30,000 worth of bail? Or something to do with the charges against him?

 

[El Tejon]

cordex, usually means the total amount of the bond for the cases against him. To create an example, e.g. 10K for Check Fraud + 20K for Commercial Burglary or Possession of Meth=30K surety, 3K cash to a bondsman.

 

[cordex]

Thanks El T. That makes sense.

 

[TheeBadOne]

$30,000 is a lot for my area, he must be one bad boy...

 

[Correia]

I have had nothing but good experiences with Salt Lake County deputies. They are a good bunch. Pretty gun saavy as a group as well, at least the ones that I know. I believe 4 out of the top 5 in the Governor's Twenty are SLC deputies.

 

[Ukraine Train]

I bet the perp was using something like #8 birdshot just because it's so much cheaper than buck, good thing for the cop.

 

[Standing Wolf]

The charges include receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, possession of stolen property, carrying a concealed weapon, and violation of a protective order.

Another parole and probation poster boy.