Man connected to violent home invasion charged

A man linked to a violent home invasion robbery thanks to a dropped cell phone was charged this week in 3rd District Court.

Willey Henry Vaitai was charged with four counts of aggravated kidnapping, four counts of aggravated robbery and one count of aggravated burglary. All charges are first-degree felonies.

On June 14, four people inside a home near 12700 South and 4800 West saw the dead bolt on their front door turning and tried to keep the door shut, according to court documents.

But three intruders were able to force their way inside and they immediately sprayed the occupants of the house with mace, hit them with either a baton or flashlight and bound their feet and hands with zip-ties, the charges state. Prosecutors say the intruders demanded the combination to a gun safe and ended up stealing several items from the group.

During the home invasion, one of the intruders dropped his cell phone. Salt Lake County sheriff's investigators traced the phone back to Vaitai, court documents state.

Vaitai was being held in the Salt Lake County Jail Thursday in lieu of $250,000 bail. In 2007 Vaitai was convicted of an aggravated robbery charge, according to court records.