- Salt Lake County DA declined to file charges against a police detective in a November 2025 shooting.
- Steven Lopez allegedly rammed a police car in a stolen van on Nov. 19.
WEST VALLEY CITY — The Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office announced Friday that it has declined to file charges against a West Valley police detective who shot at a man last fall after the man rammed into a police car in a stolen van.
On Nov. 19, 2025, 35-year-old Steven Lopez was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of aggravated assault, failure to stop for police, theft of a motor vehicle and causing a crash. Lopez was not injured in the shooting.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said his office has declined to file criminal charges against detective Greg Celentano in the shooting, as it determined a jury would likely find the shooting justified "to prevent continued or further threats of deadly force by Mr. Lopez."
Gill cited Lopez's ongoing criminal case and released an "abridged findings letter" for the time being. The office said its full findings will be released later when "a public discussion of the facts will not impact the pending criminal case."
The shooting
According to the district attorney's summary of facts and findings from its review, Lopez was asked to leave a temporary homeless shelter located at 3380 S. Redwood Road about 8:30 a.m. due to "erratic behavior." He then walked to the area of 2851 S. Redwood Road, where he allegedly stole a van from an auto shop, a booking affidavit said.
Lopez drove back to the shelter, where he saw two police officers, Celentano and Lt. Robert Brinton, in uniform sitting in unmarked vehicles in the parking lot.
According to the booking affidavit, during an interview with investigators, "Steven said he rammed the van into the officer's vehicle. He then fled the scene and stated he was 'freaking out.'"
Lopez also allegedly told investigators that he was "juiced up" on bath salts and thought the officer had multiple faces.
The district attorney's findings stated that both Celentano and Brinton were parked close to each other and could see Lopez in the van and noticed his "odd behavior."
"Suddenly, Mr. Lopez started driving the van directly at (Celentano's) police car, and rammed it. (Celentano) opened his car door and as he got out, fired three shots at Mr. Lopez who reversed away from (Celentano) and towards other cars in the parking lot," the district attorney's summary states.
Brinton chased after Lopez, who fled the parking lot, but he reached a dead-end. Lopez then made a U-turn and drove back into the shelter parking lot, where he was confronted by police officers, according to the district attorney's summary.
"Mr. Lopez stopped the van, got out, and surrendered to officers. Mr. Lopez was not hit by any of (detective) Celentano's shots," Gill wrote in the summary of the findings.
The investigation was turned over to the Unified Police Department, as KSL previously reported.
The district attorney's office said Celentano "refused to be interviewed about his decision to use deadly force, as is his constitutional right."
Investigators, however, interviewed Brinton about the incident; they also documented the scene and examined physical evidence, reviewed body-worn camera recordings and surveillance camera recordings, as well as examined Celentano's weapon.
Brinton told investigators that he believed the van was a threat to Celentano, that the van driver was trying to hurt or injure the officer, and that the van driver's actions were unprovoked, the district attorney's summary states.
"Brinton said he did not know the van driver's intentions, but his actions demonstrated that he was trying to harm detective Celentano. Lt. Brinton noted that detective Celentano's ability to move his vehicle was hindered because of the parked trailer next to his police car," the attorney's office states.
Because Celentano refused to be interviewed about the matter or provide a statement explaining his use of deadly force, as is his constitutional right, the attorney's office doesn't know for certain what his beliefs were or his reasoning to fire his weapon.
"We are therefore left to infer the rationale for his apparent decision to use deadly force based on other evidence we received, as well as the reasonable inferences to be drawn from that evidence," the summary of facts and findings states.
Lopez was initially ordered to remain in jail without bail pending the filing of formal charges.
However, according to court documents, at a hearing on Jan. 20, his attorney requested that he be released early to an inpatient program. The court said it would grant the release on the condition that he doesn't violate any more laws, but that the court proceedings would continue.
The release was ordered by the court on Jan. 23, according to court records. Lopez has another hearing scheduled for Feb. 17.
