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SALT LAKE CITY — A man who refused to be taken to a hospital to be treated for a serious hand injury is now facing criminal charges for allegedly threatening first responders with a gun.
Sebastian Hernandez, 23, of Salt Lake City, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with two counts of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony; and interfering with an arresting officer, a class B misdemeanor.
On Saturday, Hernandez called 911 just after 3 a.m. to report he had injured his hand. Police do not know how the initial injury occurred. Emergency crews responded to the area of 2500 South and 600 East and found Hernandez had a serious cut on his hand. First responders told Hernandez he needed to be taken to a hospital for stitches, according to charging documents.
"Hernandez declined and became combative. Hernandez released himself from the stretcher and exited the ambulance. Once outside, Hernandez began challenging other fire personnel to fight," the charges state.
At that point, Salt Lake City firefighters and emergency medical technicians disengaged with Hernandez, who went inside his home. But while emergency crews were outside cleaning off their equipment, "Hernandez came back outside with a black handgun in his hand and his finger on the trigger" and waved the gun around while threatening the group, according to the charges.
"Hernandez approached the ambulance and pointed the gun at (two EMTs) and said, 'I'm gonna kill you.' As (they) drove away, they saw Hernandez chasing them with the gun pointing at them," the charges state.
The fire crews contacted police. Due to Hernandez's lack of cooperation, police sent a reverse-911 call to surrounding residents requesting they remain in their homes, and called out the SWAT team.
At one point, Hernandez exited his home and was ordered to walk toward police with his hands in the air. "However Hernandez did not comply and attempted to go back inside. Hernandez was struck with two bean bag rounds by the police, and Hernandez retreated inside of the residence and shut the door," according to the charges.
Just after 4:30 a.m., police say a "heavily intoxicated" Hernandez again exited his home and, this time, surrendered without further incident. A BB gun was recovered in the house.
"We are grateful that the first responders in this incident were not injured," Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a statement Tuesday. "We appreciate the work of Salt Lake City Police Department for their use of less lethal means to help deescalate a potentially volatile situation."
"We will not tolerate threats of violence or harm against our public safety partners," Police Chief Mike Brown added. "This incident, unfortunately, exposes the very real dangers public safety workers can face without warning as they go about their duties."
