Man charged in unprovoked assaults in Salt Lake's Yalecrest neighborhood

SALT LAKE CITY — A 35-year-old Taylorsville man is accused of randomly attacking strangers in Salt Lake City's Yalecrest area.

Garrett Thomas Stewart was charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony; aggravated assault, a third-degree felony; committing a violent offense in the presence of a child, assault and causing property damage, class B misdemeanors; public intoxication, a class C misdemeanor; and disorderly conduct, an infraction.

"Stewart is a danger to the community because he committed a series of entirely random, unprovoked attacks on strangers with no known connection to him," prosecutors wrote in charging documents.

On July 19, just after 8:30 p.m., Salt Lake City police responded to a report of a fight near 1700 E. Harvard Ave. Officers arrived to find a woman sitting down who "had blood all over her face. Upon closer observation I noted an open laceration above her right eye," according to a police booking affidavit.

The woman's husband told police he was walking home with his wife and children when Stewart "approached them, screaming at them, and punched his wife," the charges state. Police say the woman "had blood all over her face and chest from a wound above her right eye that was approximately 3 inches in length."

At the hospital, the woman later told investigators that Stewart had approached her "and yelled at her saying 'Do you see me?' multiple times before he punched her in the face causing her to fall and hit her head on the ground," the charges state.

Another man stated that Stewart demanded that the man get out of his car, but the man "refused to exit his car and Stewart slapped the driver's side window then punched through the driver's side passenger window," according to charging documents.

Several bystanders who saw the attack on the woman detained Stewart and held him until police arrived. One bystander was punched by Stewart in the process, the charges state.

When questioned by police about the attack on the woman, Stewart said it was "because (she) was the biggest gangster" while adding that he was "going to kill that woman … because he knows he can," according to the charges.

A police booking affidavit further adds that Stewart claimed he hit the woman "because she did not believe him." Stewart did not elaborate on what he meant by that, according to police.

Stewart also admitted to taking psychedelic mushrooms earlier in the day, the charges state.

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