Salt Lake police arrest man they say threatened others with large drill bit

SALT LAKE CITY — Police arrested a 31-year-old man who they say was holding a large drill bit and threatening members of the community.

Officials with the Salt Lake City Police Department said officers responded to the area of 1500 South and 500 West Friday afternoon after receiving reports of a man, later identified as Maxwell Cowan, threatening several people.

Police found Cowan with “a large, sharp-tipped object, later identified as a drill bit.” Officers ordered Cowan to drop the item before he started running through the parking lot toward other people.

“Cowan posed an immediate threat to community members,” police said.

Officers then deployed a Taser to stop Cowan and took him into custody “to prevent him from causing serious physical injury or death to a community member.”

Cowan was taken to an area hospital for minor injuries before being booked into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail on charges of public intoxication, making threats of violence, threatening others using a dangerous weapon, failing to stop at the command of a police officer, failure to identify, six counts of failure to register as a sex offender and being in possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person.

“In a fraction of a second, police officers must rapidly switch from assessing threats, stopping those threats, and then immediately helping the injured,” said SLCPD Chief Mike Brown. “That high expectation can come with a significant amount of stress, yet the quick thinking, under pressure, of our officers highlights their commitment to community safety and the safety of each other.”