Tooele County Attorney Scott Broadhead has determined that two Salt Lake City police officers were legally justified in using deadly force when they exchanged gunfire with an armed man following a May car chase that ended in Tooele County.
Lt. Craig Gleason and Officer Moeilealoalo Tafisi each fired their weapons at 18-year-old Roman Jade Carrillo.
But Carrillo died from a bullet he fired into his own head from a .22-caliber rifle, according to Broadhead’s Sept. 19 report, which was obtained on Monday by The Salt Lake Tribune.
Events began shortly before 5 a.m. on May 30, as Carrillo, of Bountiful, and 19-year-old Andrew Kelton Greening, of Centerville, were driving in the area of 300 South and 500 West in Salt Lake City.
When 22-year-old Alex Yetter yelled a gang epithet, Carrillo stopped the car and Yetter approached, telling Carrillo and Greening to get out of the car, according to weapons charges filed against Greening.
Greening exited holding a .22-caliber rifle, got into a verbal altercation with Yetter, and then shot him three times, charges state. Yetter was taken to a hospital in stable condition.
Salt Lake City police chased Carrillo and Greening at speeds exceeding 100 mph into Tooele County, where the tires of their Dodge Neon were spiked and Carrillo eventually crashed into a tree in a Lakepoint neighborhood.
Officer Tafisi was fired upon as he exited his patrol car, and returned fire while running for cover, according to Broadhead’s report. Tafisi’s car was hit by two bullets.
During an ensuing 15-minute standoff, Greening surrendered to officers and informed them that Carrillo had a .22-caliber rifle.
Meanwhile, Lt. Gleason arrived went behind a nearby home from where he could see Carrillo leaning against the Neon, the report says.
Gleason watched as Carrillo put the rifle muzzle against his forehead and leaned into it.
Gleason thought Carrillo was going to shoot himself, but the man removed the rifle from his head, pulled a bandana over his face and began lifting the rifle toward Gleason, the report says.
Gleason, who thought Carrillo was going to shoot at him, fired a shot with his handgun, then ducked behind the corner of the house, the report says.
When Gleason peeked around the corner, Carrillo was sitting with his back to the Neon with the rifle muzzle once again against his head.
Seconds later, Gleason heard a pop and Carrillo fell over, the report says.
Carrillo died at a hospital, where doctors found bullet wounds to his pelvic area and head. The state medical examiner’s office determined Carrillo’s head wound resulted in “nonsurvivable traumatic brain injury,” Broadhead’s report says.
A civilian witness confirmed Gleason’s account to the point where Carrillo put the bandana over his face and lifted the rifle, the report says.
Two days later, Greening — for shooting Yetter — was charged in Salt Lake City’s 3rd District Court with three counts of gang-enhanced first-degree felony counts of discharge of a firearm and one count of third-degree felony count of possession of a firearm by a restricted person.
He pleaded guilty in August to three lesser counts of second-degree felony discharge of a firearm with injury. As part of a plea deal, the gang enhancements were dropped and the firearm possession count was dismissed. Also, prosecutors agreed to recommend concurrent prison terms at sentencing.
On Friday, Senior Judge Judith Atherton suspended potential one-to-15-years prison terms and sentenced Greening to a year in jail, with no credit for the time he had spent behind bars since May.
In plea documents, Greening states that he shot Yetter because the man made threats to himself and his family, and because he thought Yetter was about to attack him. But Greening adds in the document that his belief of an imminent attack by Yetter was not “reasonable” because Yetter was unarmed.
At the time of the shooting and car chase, Greening was on probation in Davis County’s 2nd District Court for misdemeanor convictions of assault and failure to stop at command of law enforcement. In January, he punched his uncle multiple times, then ran from police, according to court documents.
Carrillo was on probation in two Davis County cases: a third-degree felony conviction for assault by a prisoner; and misdemeanor convictions for failure to stop at command of law enforcement, giving a false identity to a peace officer, and possession of tobacco by a minor.
In the assault case, Carrillo hit another resident while incarcerated at the Farmington Bay Youth Center in November, court documents state.