Sandy man arrested after alleged bomb threat and damaging over 50 cars, police say
Sep 11, 2024, 2:56 PM
(FILE) Salt Lake City Police car responding to a scene.
(FILE)
SALT LAKE CITY — A Sandy man was arrested Monday night after police say went through the parking area of the Huntsman Mental Health Institute and damaged numerous vehicles.
Officers located 54 damaged vehicles as of midday Tuesday and were still counting, said University of Utah Police Capt. Brian Lohrke. The damage on each vehicle ranges from smashed windows to large dents.
Luke James Bullard, 27, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of 65 counts of causing property damage and one count of making a terroristic threat.
Just after 8 p.m. Monday, police were called to the Huntsman Mental Health Institute, 501 S. Chipeta Way, on a report of a man making bomb threats. “Hospital security reported that Luke had advised them of bombs placed around the building,” according to a police booking affidavit.
The hospital went into lockdown as a precaution. Hospital staff then advised police Bullard “was walking around the parking lot, smashing and breaking car windows,” the affidavit alleges.
When officers found him, they reported that he was armed with a crowbar. Lohrke said officers confronted Bullard at Taser-point and he surrendered without further incident.
As of midday Tuesday, Lohrke said investigators were still adding up the total damage caused.
Bullard’s arrest comes less than a month after he was charged for a similar incident in Sandy. On Aug. 18, Bullard used rocks to damage two Sandy police vehicles parked at Sandy City Hall, 10000 S. Centennial Parkway, according to charging documents. He was charged in 3rd District Court with two counts of property damage, a second-degree felony.
In 2023, Bullard was arrested and charged with firing multiple rounds inside his parent’s house, threatening “to kill his family and burn their house down if they made him move out,” and throwing a bearded dragon outside into the snow where it died. He was determined to be mentally incompetent to stand trial in that case for about a year, according to court records. Earlier this year, he was convicted of an amended misdemeanor charge of firing a weapon and sentenced to more than 300 days in jail that he had already served and two years of probation.
