Father arrested after fight

A man who tried to avoid arrest by using his 5-year-old daughter as a shield and then rubbed pepper spray on her face was eventually apprehended by Salt Lake County sheriff's deputies.

The incident began Monday night near 1500 E. Fort Union Blvd. when a man argued with his live-in girlfriend.

The 29-year-old man, who had been drinking, threw a beer bottle at the girlfriend and then poured beer on her head, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Sgt. Rosie Rivera said.

The man's daughter was present during the incident.

The girlfriend called police and the apartment complex's security guard, Rivera said.

The man had a fistfight with the guard, and when police arrived, the man was running around the complex holding on to his daughter. At one point deputies were forced to detain him at gunpoint because he wouldn't show his hands, Rivera said. The man held on to his daughter with one hand and kept his other hand in his pocket.

When he finally took his hand out of his pocket to show he was not armed, the deputies holstered their guns.

But rather than surrender, the man charged at deputies who then used pepper spray on him. The man then put his face next to his daughter's and rubbed the stinging chemical on her, Rivera said.

After deputies freed the girl, the man fought until more deputies arrived and were able to restrain him.

The man was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of a number of charges including aggravated assault, domestic violence, child abuse, resisting arrest and public intoxication.

The young girl was checked out and decontaminated at the scene by Salt Lake County firefighters. She suffered burning skin and eyes.

The girl's mother was traveling from Wyoming to Salt Lake City to pick up her daughter after hearing about the incident, Rivera said.

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