Police Replace Woman’s US Flag & Pole After She Uses It To Fight Off Attacker

SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah – People will use just about anything they can get their hands on when they are under attack, and for a South Salt Lake woman, it was a flagpole.

South Salt Lake police said the woman was fighting off a man who smashed through the front door of her home near 900 West 3300 South.

Justin Scott Smith, 42, was arrested in connection to the incident and was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on charges of aggravated burglary, aggravated assault and criminal mischief.

Smith allegedly entered the front gate of the home around 8:30 a.m. Monday. A man inside the home confronted Smith and yelled for him to leave the property. The report said Smith pushed him to the ground and then beat up another man who came out of the house.

South Salt Lake police said a woman came out of the home with a flagpole and hit Smith several times, breaking the pole in the process.

All three victims retreated into their home. The police report said Smith smashed the door and threw a candle at the woman as he entered the home.

He grabbed the woman by the throat and choked her, the report said, before he walked into a bedroom and lay down on a bed until officers showed up and arrested him.

South Salt Lake police officers collected money to buy a new pole and U.S. flag for the family, which they delivered to the household Tuesday.

Police said the victim was concerned because after the pole broke, the flag fell to the ground and she did not want to desecrate the flag.