Charges filed against Salt Lake man shot by homeowner in June

Charges filed against Salt Lake man shot by homeowner in June

(Mike Radice, KSL TV, File)


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RIVERTON — An intoxicated man who was shot by a homeowner in June was charged Tuesday with burglarizing the home, threatening the man's family and refusing to back down.

Derek Palmer, 36, of Salt Lake City, is charged in 3rd District Court with burglary, a second-degree felony; aggravated assault, a third-degree felony; two counts of lewdness, a class B misdemeanor; plus intoxication and disorderly conduct, class C misdemeanors.

In June, Palmer went to a friend's house to visit. But he became so intoxicated that the friend told him "he needed to go to bed" and called for an Uber to pick him up, according to charging documents. The Uber driver, however, refused to take Palmer because he was allegedly being "loud and belligerent."

The friend went back into his house to call Palmer's fiancee to come and get him. But when he came back outside, Palmer was standing in the street without his shorts, the charges state. The friend tried to help Palmer put his clothes back on, then went back into the house to try and call another ride.

While the friend was away, a neighbor's teen children pulled into their driveway. Palmer "walked right up to the car window with his pants down," the charges state.

The children kept driving and called their mom as they circled the block to report a "drunk naked man was outside the house," according to charging documents. The mother went outside and got into a confrontation with Palmer, prompting the children's stepfather to go outside with a handgun and confront Palmer.

Palmer was knocked to the ground by Darris Ellis, prompting Palmer to pull out a knife, the charges state. Palmer walked toward the stepfather while asking him if he would shoot if Palmer stabbed him, the charges state.

Palmer then dropped the knife and continued crawling into the garage, ignoring the stepfather's commands to stop, according to court records.

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When Palmer's friend came back out of his house, he saw "Palmer was on all fours in the driveway of a neighbor" who was pointing a gun at Palmer and yelling at him to stay down, according to court records.

"Palmer kept fighting and trying to get up," the charges state, prompting the neighbor to shoot twice.

When police arrived, Ellis put the gun down. But Palmer tried to grab the weapon. Even though an officer took the gun out of Palmer's reach and told him to stop moving, Palmer kept advancing toward the officer in an "aggressive manner," according to the charges. The officer deployed his Taser twice and was about to use it a third time before Palmer complied with his orders and allowed the officer to handcuff him, the charges state.

Palmer was taken to a local hospital and released after a few days. Police say he has undergone several surgeries and may require more.

An initial court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 13.

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Pat Reavy is a longtime police and courts reporter. He joined the KSL.com team in 2021, after many years of reporting at the Deseret News and KSL NewsRadio before that.

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