Midvale man charged for brandishing shotgun at cop

Prosecutors have charged a Midvale man for allegedly brandishing a stolen sawed-off shotgun at the officer who pulled him over.

Sergio Garcia Jr., 20, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with attempted homicide, for which he could spend the rest of life in prison if convicted. Garcia also was charged with theft by receiving stolen property, carrying a concealed dangerous weapon and failure to respond to officer's signal to stop, which are felonies, as well as failure to stop at command of law officer, which is a misdemeanor.

On March 17, Unified Police said an officer attempted to stop Garcia's car about 1:55 a.m. near the English Manor Apartments, 7953 S. Allen St. (600 West) in Midvale, following a domestic dispute.

Police said they had been called to Garcia's home a few hours before for a domestic dispute, but when they arrived, he was gone, and family members said he had left armed with a shotgun.

As the officer was conducting the stop, Garcia got out of the car with a sawed-off shotgun and circled the vehicle to intercept the officer, according to the charges. As the officer retreated back to his patrol car, Garcia took aim at him and "manipulated the shotgun in a manner that appeared to be an attempt to shoot [the officer]," the charges state.

The officer fired two rounds at Garcia, who took cover behind a nearby vehicle. Garcia re-emerged and took aim at the officer again before entering his vehicle to get away, the charges add. But Garcia's vehicle crashed into a parked vehicle and he fled on foot.

Police searched the neighborhood and found Garcia a short time later hiding next to a garage near 8050 S. Allen. When he refused to cooperate with officers, a police dog bit him, officers said.

He was taken to a hospital to be treated for the bite. Garcia was later booked into the Salt Lake County jail.

The shotgun was reported stolen out of Tooele County, according to the charges.

mmcfall@sltrib.comTwitter: @mikeypanda