Drug dispute leads to 2 arrests in Salt Lake

An ongoing drug dispute resulted in a shot fired, a five-hour police standoff and the arrest of two people early Tuesday in Salt Lake City.

About 2:30 a.m., two officers in the area of 400 South and 1200 West heard a gunshot and saw a car leaving the area.

The officers pulled the vehicle over and discovered it was stolen, said Salt Lake City police detective Joe Cyr. The 25-year-old driver was arrested for investigation of possession of a stolen vehicle.

A number in a cell phone found inside the car led the officers to a house at 360 S. Emery (1170 West) where they went to investigate the shot that was fired.

Taking cover outside the house, officers ordered the people inside to come out, Cyr said. Eight complied with the officers' orders, but five refused, Cyr said.

SWAT teams from Salt Lake City and other agencies, including Bountiful and the Department of Public Safety, were called to surround the house. Despite constant efforts to make contact with the remaining people inside, including using a phone and bullhorn, the others did not come out, Cyr said.

About 7:30 a.m. the SWAT team used tear gas to flush out the others. A 22-year-old man was arrested for investigation of discharging a firearm and possession of a firearm by a restricted person.

Investigators believe he and the driver had gotten into an argument over drugs that culminated with one man driving away and the other firing one shot into the air, Cyr said.

On a side note, Cyr said that while the standoff was going on, a man at another house nearby called dispatchers to tell them he knew police were after him and he wasn't coming out. Dispatchers told the man the SWAT team was not surrounding his house.

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