This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The man shot and wounded in a weekend confrontation with Salt Lake City police was a parolee who had been arrested two weeks before for allegedly possessing a firearm and drugs — which could have put him back in prison almost immediately until a parole violation hearing was held.
But no one from Adult Probation and Parole came to pick up Palm Samiuel Lautaimi because it was the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, according to a Salt Lake County jail report. The 28-year-old man was released three days later because no charges had been filed.
Utah Department of Corrections spokeswoman Brooke Adams said Tuesday that the DOC is reviewing its supervision of Lautaimi and information about his arrest.
"That review includes the probable-cause statement from the Jan. 16 arrest, which, if accurate, describes an unacceptable response from our agency," Adams said.
On Sunday, two police officers tried to stop Lautaimi, who was on foot at about 1340 S. Main, to talk to him about an undisclosed matter. He allegedly "became violent" and ran, with the officers in pursuit; shots were fired a short time later.
Salt Lake City police Sgt. Robin Heiden said Lautaimi had a gun in his hand, but she declined to disclose more information, including whether he fired his weapon and how many shots were fired.
Lautaimi was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive. The two officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave. To avoid a conflict of interest, the West Valley City Police Department is investigating the shooting.
Court records show Lautaimi has been on parole supervision since Sept. 9, 2014, after serving time on two counts of discharging a weapon from a vehicle and one count of possessing a dangerous weapon.
The jail report says a West Valley City officer stopped Lautaimi late Jan. 16 because a license plate check showed the silver sedan he was driving was not insured. Because of Lautaimi's parole status, the officer asked him to step out of the car to be searched.
Lautaimi, who acknowledged that he had something illegal on him, would not get out of the vehicle and kept making quick movements toward his pockets, the report says. The officer said he had to physically remove Lautaimi from the car.
According to the report, a loaded .22-caliber handgun and 10 "twist baggies" of methamphetamine were found on Lautaimi.
He was booked into jail Jan. 17 on suspicion of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and possession of drugs with intent to distribute. He was released Jan. 20.
The West Valley City Police Department referred Lautaimi's drug and weapon case to the U.S. attorney's office in Utah, which is screening it for possible federal prosecution.
The police shooting is the second to involve a parolee this year. Cory Lee Henderson, who had been released from prison to attend a state treatment center, shot and killed Unified Police Officer Douglas Barney on Jan. 17. Some Utah police officers have contended that a federal magistrate's decision to release Henderson to the treatment center should be reviewed.
Twitter: @PamelaMansonSLC