Man Accused Of Stabbing Officer With Screwdriver In Midvale
Aug 15, 2018, 1:33 PM | Updated: 4:35 pm
MIDVALE, Utah – A Salt Lake City man accused of stabbing a police officer with a screwdriver in Midvale has been arrested and booked in jail.
Investigators said 26-year-old Steve Hawkins was shot by the officer during the scuffle.
Unified Police Department Sgt. Melody Gray said around 1:30 Wednesday morning the officer saw Hawkins acting suspiciously in the McDonald’s parking lot near 7200 South and 400 West. The restaurant was closed at the time.
After the officer approached Hawkins, a fight ensued.
Gray said Hawkins stabbed the officer with a screwdriver and the officer shot back.
“Really it’s almost what we would call a routine stop. You see someone, you stop and chat with someone, you see what’s going on and things just happen very, very quickly and escalate very rapidly,” she said.
Hawkins was taken to the hospital for a short stint before he was taken to jail. He was shot in the left torso. The black eye in his mugshot is from that scuffle.
Steve Michael Hawkins
The officer wasn’t hurt.
“Luckily the officer was wearing his ballistic vest and the ballistic vest did its job at protecting the officer from injury,” Gray said.
Hawkins faces charges of public intoxication, interfering with an arrest, possession of a dangerous weapon, and aggravated assault on an officer.
The officer is on paid administrative leave during the ongoing investigation, as is protocol.
The officer did not have on a body camera. UPD only has a limited number that are assigned to officers.
