Attack may be a case of mistaken identity

Salt Lake County sheriff's investigators Monday were looking for a man who broke into an apartment and assaulted another man in an apparent case of mistaken identity.

Just before 4:30 a.m. a man asleep in his third-floor apartment near 3900 South and 700 West heard a noise that he assumed was his cat, said Sheriff's Sgt. Paul Jaroscak.

But when he went to check it out, the tenant found a man with a baseball bat. The intruder had apparently gotten into his apartment by breaking down the front door, Jaroscak said.

The man ran back into his bedroom and locked the door behind him, but the intruder broke down that door also and then hit the man in the head with an aluminum baseball bat, Jaroscak said.

After that, the attacker left the apartment without taking anything.

The victim was treated at a local hospital and released for a gash on his head, Jaroscak said.

Because of the way the intruder broke down the door, investigators do not believe burglary was the motive, Jaroscak said. Most burglars want to get in and out without being detected, he said.

Detectives Monday said the man attacked did not appear to have any gang or drug ties and there was no known criminal history at that address.

Based on that, Jaroscak said investigators were leaning toward the theory that the attack was the result of mistaken identity.