A man who allegedly stabbed a West Valley City convenience store clerk several times Monday had been mistakenly released weeks early from jail just prior to the attack, according to the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
The 33-year-old man was let out early Monday — about 42 days before he was supposed to be released — due to a data entry error at the Salt Lake County jail, officials said in a Tuesday news release.
Police responded at about 2:30 a.m. Monday to reports of a man screaming and pounding on garbage cans outside the Maverik store at 3112 S. Redwood Road. By the time they arrived, the man purportedly had entered the store and attacked the female clerk, West Valley City police said.
The Sheriff’s Office, which oversees the jail, reported Tuesday that the man had been released from jail earlier in the morning before the attack, due to a clerical error made the day before.
Jail officials said such errors are uncommon, though they “have taken immediate steps to improve the process that resulted in the early release.” Sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin Hunter said Tuesday he did not immediately have additional information about how the error occurred.
The man had entered guilty pleas in June to multiple misdemeanor counts of credit card fraud and attempted aggravated assault. He was booked May 31.
The store clerk was rushed to the hospital Monday in serious condition. She was expected to survive.
Two men who were making a delivery to the store ended the assault by trapping the man inside the store’s office. Arriving officers used a police dog and a pepper-ball gun to arrest the combative man, police said.