This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
South Salt Lake police say a rental car return led to the arrest of a suspect in a strip club shooting — and seizure of a handgun and four pounds of heroin.
SSLPD spokesman Gary Keller said the 26-year-old suspect was taken into custody 2:30 p.m. Tuesday when police caught him returning the vehicle to a West Valley City car rental agency. At the time of his arrest the suspect was with his wife and a 5-year-old child.
A subsequent search of the rental car turned up a loaded, small-caliber handgun, a small amount of methamphetamine, the heroin and drug paraphernalia, Keller said.
The suspect had been sought in the April 30 shooting of a 27-year-old man during an early-morning argument in the parking lot of the Southern Exposure Show Club at 3420 South State Street.
When officers responded to the shooting scene, both the suspect and victim had left. Officers later located the victim, who had been shot in the upper left leg, at Intermountain Medical Center.
Keller said the wounded man had been dropped off at the hospital's emergency room by a friend, who then drove away as a nurse helped the victim into a wheelchair.
The victim underwent surgery to remove the bullet and is recovering, Keller said.
The suspect, a Mexican national, remained in the Salt Lake County jail on Wednesday on both $250,000 bail and an immigration hold order. He was facing felony charges ranging from discharge of a firearm and aggravated kidnapping to possession of heroin and methamphetamine.
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