This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake City police say a homeless man attacked Las Vegas 51s reliever Logan Taylor in an attempted robbery over the weekend.
Lt. Scott Smalley said the man, carrying a sock full of rocks and a tire iron, approached the AAA baseball relief pitcher while he was walking down a street Saturday.
"He demanded his wallet. He demanded his money," Smalley said. "When Taylor didn't comply, he hit him over the head with a tire iron."
Manager Pedro Lopez said Taylor had to have staples put in the back of his head. He suffered a concussion and was placed on the disabled list, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which first reported the assault.
Joshua Cruz, 33, was arrested Saturday in connection with the attack, Smalley said. The Salt Lake City man, who apparently is homeless, is in custody on charges of aggravated robbery and failure to stop at command of law enforcement.
Taylor and some teammates were walking in the area of 500 South West Temple, about six blocks from Salt Lake City's main homeless shelter, when the incident occurred, Smalley said.
"They were in town for a series with the Bees and were walking around downtown prior to the game," Smalley said.
The Rio Grande District of Salt Lake City, with the 1,100-bed shelter, free clinic, soup kitchen and day center is a central gathering place for homeless people — and one that is increasingly on the radar of law enforcement and public officials who decry a rise in crime, especially drug dealing.
Current plans call for The Road Home, 210 So. Rio Grande St., to close by July 2019 and to be replaced by three smaller centers designed to offer more services aimed at getting people into housing and the job market.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.