New questions raised in shooting by deputy

New questions surrounding the shooting of a man at a Salt Lake club by an off-duty deputy center on the deputy's consumption of alcohol.

Rudy Chacon, a veteran narcotics detective for the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing by the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office for shooting John Junior "JJ" Pikula in the torso Sept. 18 during a fight at Green Street Social Club, 602 E. 500 South.

The district attorney determined Chacon acted in self-defense, meaning his or someone else's life was in imminent danger.

Pikula and his group, who were at the club celebrating Pikula's bachelor party, were harassing people in Chacon's group and sexually assaulted at least one woman, according to prosecutors. The night culminated in a melee when Pikula slammed Chacon's brother into a wall, forced him to the ground and then struck the brother "multiple times in the head and face while the brother lay motionless on the ground," prompting Chacon to fire once, according to court documents.

Documents obtained by KSL-TV reveal Chacon's blood-alcohol content registered at .01, but his blood was drawn about five hours after the shooting.

Pikula's attorney, Alan Mortensen, said he is still waiting to see certain evidence in the case that has not been turned over to his office. Furthermore, he believes Chacon received special privileges because of his law enforcement position.

"Under Utah law, a normal citizen is not entitled to use a firearm when using alcohol," he said. "No one should have a gun and alcohol at the same time. I think it's fairly clear, even police officers aren't entitled to use their guns if they're using alcohol."

Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson said that on the contrary Utah law exempts law enforcers from weapons laws that pertain to regular citizens. Utah law also requires law enforcers to obtain a search warrant to draw blood on a person, whether they are a law enforcer or not, unless that person is involved in an incident in which they were the driver of a vehicle, he said.

But more important, according to Hutson, the facts surrounding the case remain the same, regardless of how much alcohol Chacon consumed.

"It doesn't go to the basic element of the crime," he said. "All the many, many officers who had contact with deputy Chacon and the subsequent investigation, none of them felt like he showed any sign of impairment. That goes to the credibility of the investigation. This was a complete and thorough investigation with no preconceived notion how it would turn out."