Man Arrested After Tense, 3-hour Situation with Police in West Valley
Jul 17, 2018, 11:04 PM | Updated: Jul 18, 2018, 1:32 am
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah – Police arrested a man Tuesday after a reported assault boiled over into a tense, three-hour-long situation involving officers with guns drawn outside an apartment.
Officers responded to the area of 1843 W. Parkway Blvd. about 3:30 p.m., after a call about an argument involving a woman and her boyfriend.
West Valley City Police Deputy Chief Matt Elson said the man had attacked the woman with an object, and then retreated inside the apartment, where the woman’s 5-year-old son and a 15-year-old girl, believed to be a niece, also were at the time.
“Given the circumstances, the serious felony nature of the assault, and we had kids in there and there was no contact, we decided better safe than sorry, and we would treat this as a barricaded, possible hostage situation,” Elson said.
Police subsequently rolled out in large numbers, and multiple officers were observed wearing tactical gear with guns drawn outside the apartment.
Despite repeated police knocks at the door and announcements of their presence, Elson said the man did not respond for close to three hours.
“Anybody who looked out their window would have seen and would have known that the police were here and wanted to talk,” Elson said.
That’s when police rolled up a heavily-armored hostage rescue vehicle.
“We can get our officers up close and in a position to negotiate,” Elson explained. “The first one out was the 5-year-old, then the female came out, as well as our primary suspect.”
Troy Archuletta, 26
Police arrested Troy Archuletta, 26, and booked him into the Salt Lake County Jail on suspicion of felony domestic violence aggravated assault, domestic violence criminal mischief, and domestic violence in the presence of a child.
Elson said police were grateful they were able to resolve the situation peacefully.
The situation drew a number of onlookers in the neighborhood.
Bridget Clark said she had seen the couple “yelling” outside before police arrived.
To her, the scene was unnerving.
“There’s been a lot of stuff going on around here” Clark said. “If I had the money, I’d move out of here, because this is not the neighborhood I remembered.”
