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DRAPER — A hotel clerk somehow escaped injury Monday after police say he was shot at a dozen times by a man in the parking lot.
The incident began about 2 a.m. when a man walked into the Ramada Inn, 12605 S. Minuteman Drive, and asked to go to a room, said Draper Police Sgt. Chad Carpenter. Because the man was not a registered guest, the clerk asked him to leave.
Shortly after the man left, the clerk went outside to walk around the building for a security check. That's when he came across a man in the parking lot who "began firing rounds at the clerk," Carpenter said.
"As the suspect is shooting at him, he's running, trying to get away," he said.
A total of 12 shots were fired "as the clerk was running and hiding amongst the parked vehicles," according to a Salt Lake County Jail report. At least two vehicles were hit by gunfire, but no injuries were reported. Three shots hit a metal shipping container, and one round struck the roof of the nearby Draper Youth Center.
Additional officers from several jurisdictions responded to the scene. Delbert Wayne "Auggie" Auger, 30, was tracked down by a police K-9 who found him attempting to hide about a block away, Carpenter said. The man was arrested for investigation of attempted murder, being a restricted person in possession of a firearm and felony discharge of a firearm.
Auger's arrest comes just four months after he was arrested in White City by the Salt Lake Metro Gang Unit, which listed him at the time as one of its top 10 most wanted fugitives.
In February, Auger was arrested along with five other people when police busted a counterfeiting and check forgery operation at 1068 Sego Lily Drive (10200 South). The Salt Lake County Health Department condemned the house after methamphetamine was found inside. He was charged in 3rd District Court with forgery and theft by deception and has had an outstanding warrant for his arrest since March.
Auger's lengthy criminal history includes both state and federal convictions. He was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for a firearms conviction in 2012 and continued to be on supervised release for drug violations after his release at the time of his arrest Monday.
Police determined Auger was not the person who originally walked into the hotel lobby. However, Carpenter said Monday detectives were still investigating whether he was connected in any way to the man who did walk in earlier.
