2 arrested after weekend fatal fight in Taylorsville

Two drunken men asked to leave a Taylorsville residence were arrested Saturday after beating a man and then running him over, killing him, police say.

Two drunken men asked to leave a Taylorsville residence were arrested Saturday after beating a man and then running him over, killing him, police say. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)


Save Story
KEY TAKEAWAYS
  • Two men were arrested in Taylorsville after a physical fight turned fatal.
  • Miguel Rivera and Juan Perez Rivera allegedly beat and then ran over Luis Ramirez, killing him.
  • The incident followed a fight after they were asked to leave a party.

TAYLORSVILLE — Two men were arrested over the weekend after police say they got into a fight with another man, then ran over the man, killing him, as they left.

Miguel Angel Rivera, 34, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of aggravated assault resulting in serious injury and assault. Juan Jose Perez Rivera, 36, of Woods Cross, was arrested for investigation of aggravated assault and obstruction of justice.

On Saturday, several people were at a home in Taylorsville when the two men — who "were already drunk" when they arrived — were asked to leave for "belligerent behavior," according to a police booking affidavit. As Perez was leaving, he allegedly threw a full beer can through the front window.

"Occupants of the home exited, and a physical altercation ensued between the parties. The altercation extended to the street, and while in the street, 44-year-old Luis Ramirez was knocked unconscious by (Perez). After the victim, Luis, fell to the ground unconscious, (Perez) straddled Luis and continued striking him in the head while he was unconscious," the affidavit alleges.

Perez then got into the passenger seat of a BMW and Rivera into the driver's seat as a 37-year-old woman tried to drag Ramirez out of the road.

"Witnesses reported the BMW swerving at (the woman) who was still trying to drag Luis's unconscious body out of the road, and the vehicle struck both (the woman) and Luis. (Rivera) continued to drive away and failed to stop and render aid to Luis or summon for help," the affidavit states.

Ramirez was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman was taken to a local hospital with undisclosed injuries.

Police said they traced the BMW to Perez's Woods Cross residence.

"An interview was conducted with (Perez), and he told investigators that he was either unconscious or too intoxicated to remember what happened. (Perez) did advise that he remembers fighting in the street and advised that (Rivera) was driving the BMW away from the scene. An interview was conducted with (Rivera), and he told investigators after he and (Perez) were turned away at the party that (Perez) threw a full beer can at the window of the house and breaking it," according to the arrest report. "As (Rivera) drove away, he felt a bump that he thought was a curb that the car ran over. (Rivera) advised that he drove (Perez) home and parked the vehicle in the garage."

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

Most recent Police & Courts stories

Related topics

Pat Reavy, KSLPat Reavy
Pat Reavy interned with KSL in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL or Deseret News since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.
KSL.com Beyond Business
KSL.com Beyond Series

KSL Weather Forecast

KSL Weather Forecast
Play button