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SOUTH SALT LAKE — A man shot in the parking lot of a South Salt Lake strip club nearly a year ago is now facing criminal charges accusing him of being the aggressor in that incident.
Kenneth Colton Foote, 31, of Draper, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with being a restricted person in possession of a firearm, a first-degree felony, and three counts of aggravated assault, a second-degree felony.
On Oct. 21, 2023, Foote met up with a man in the parking lot of the Kitty Exotic Gentleman's Club, 3053 S. State, and asked the man for $600. When the man refused, Foote grabbed him by the throat, according to charging documents.
As Foote grabbed the man's neck "with both hands and aggressively (pushed him) toward the club's entrance" two employees tried to intervene, the charges state.
At some point during the fight, Foote pulled a realistic-looking gun from his waistband and hit the man with it, the charges allege. One employee told police "it 100% looked like a real gun."
As the employees tried to help the man, Foote raised the weapon at one of them, prompting the second employee to draw his own real gun. He "informed Foote that he did not want to hurt him, but Foote then raised (his) weapon and pointed it at (the second employee's) face," according to the charges.
The employee fired twice and Foote was taken to a local hospital.
Prosecutors say Foote is a habitual offender with a lengthy criminal history. Most recently, he was charged in 4th District Court on Sept. 6 with aggravated assault, a first-degree felony; being a restricted person in possession of a weapon, a third-degree felony; and property damage, a class B misdemeanor.
In that case, Foote used his vehicle to box in another driver in a parking stall in American Fork, broke out the driver's side window with a realistic-looking gun, yelled at the driver about a woman, and then asked the man if he preferred to be shot in the head or the leg before shooting him in the face, according to charging documents.
"The victim then realized the firearm was a CO2-powered, semi-automatic pistol" and got out of his car to fight Foote. The man was then shot two more times, the charges state. The victim, who was not seriously injured, told police he had never seen Foote before and did not know the woman he was asking about.
Police say Foote was carrying a "Byrna less lethal handgun," the same kind of weapon he was holding when he was shot in South Salt Lake.
