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OGDEN — A man shot by an Ogden police officer now faces criminal charges.
Aaron Mark Baugh, 34, of Liberty, Weber County, was charged Friday in 2nd District Court with assault on a police officer, a second-degree felony; burglary, a third-degree felony; and criminal mischief, a class B misdemeanor.
About 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, Baugh used a metal object to smash through a glass door at AAMCO Transmission, 3076 Wall Ave., according to charging documents. At 7:20 a.m., a customer dropping off his car at the shop noticed the broken glass and called 911.
The first Ogden police officer who arrived on scene entered the building and found Baugh “concealing himself in a room. The suspect refused to follow commands,” Ogden police stated in a press conference on Wednesday.
“The officer tells Baugh to show his hands several times, but Baugh refused and continued to advance on the officer quickly,” the charges state.
The female officer backed out of the store into the parking lot. Baugh kept his hands near his waistband as he followed, according to the charges.
“As Baugh reached the doorway, he pulled a black object from his waistband area and was holding it in both hands in a grip like a firearm,” the charges state.
When Baugh exited the building into the parking lot, he “pointed the black object directly at the officer, presenting it as a weapon,” according to the charges. “The officer fired two shots striking Baugh once in the arm.”
Baugh’s injuries were not life-threatening.
The object in Baugh’s hands was later determined to be a stapler, the charges state. Baugh later told investigators “it was his intention to provoke (the officer) into shooting him by making her feel threatened by a dangerous weapon,” according to the charges.
During a press conference shortly after the shooting Wednesday, Ogden Deputy Police Chief Eric Young talked about the problems of drug addiction and mental illness.
“Unaddressed mental health concerns and drug addiction have consequences in our society. Individuals who are unstable due to addiction and mental health illness are dangerous to you and to those who protect you. There must be a greater effort on the part of society as a whole to mitigate this growing illness in our population, specifically in our growing homeless population,” the deputy chief said.
“If we want to reduce violence in our communities and reduce the number of life-threatening situations for our police officers and first responders to deal with in our community, it’s something we’ve got to get on top of as a society.”
According to court records, Baugh has an extensive criminal record that includes many misdemeanor intoxication, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief convictions, as well as felony attempted burglary and theft convictions.
