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SALT LAKE CITY — A homeless man who police say randomly attacked an elderly man who wouldn't give him money is facing serious criminal charges.
Robert Tiapula Liehr, 25, was charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, and two counts of unlawful accusation of a financial card, a third-degree felony.
Police say Liehr approached a 79-year-old man on June 13 near 1065 S. 300 West and asked him for money. When the man said he did not have any money to give, Liehr became "enraged" and told him to "stop playing games," according to a police booking affidavit.
Liehr followed the man to a nearby Utah Transit Authority station and then "punched the elderly victim in the face, causing him to fall to the ground," then got on top of the man and "continually punched the victim up to 10 times in the face," the affidavit states.
Police say he then took money and two bank cards out of the victim's wallet and walked away.
When police arrived on scene, they observed the victim had a "very swollen face and the right side of his face was purple resulting from the assault. The victim's eyes were nearly swollen shut from the assault and the victim was transported to Salt Lake Regional Hospital where it was verified with medical staff that the victim's nose was broken," the affidavit states.
Officers located Liehr at a nearby convenience story and arrested him. Officers say he has a "vast history of assaults on strangers."
In 2019, he was arrested for jumping on a woman's back near 100 S. West Temple, knocking her to the ground, punching her two to three times in the face and taking her purse, according to charging documents. He was convicted of robbery. Following several failed stints in mental health court, his case was determined to be resolved in March and he was released from the Salt Lake County Jail.
Two weeks before the 2019 attack on the woman, police say Liehr was attempting to randomly enter cars near 5900 S. State. When officers arrived and told him to stop, he fought with two officers, punching one in the face and taking the other officer's Taser away from her after two unsuccessful deployments, according to a police booking affidavit.
