Man involved in club melee ordered to alcohol treatment

A man who sparked a melee at a nightspot last year was ordered Friday to complete an alcohol treatment program while in jail.

Third District Judge Judith Atherton sentenced Arnold Taufa Pikula, 21, to a year in jail for assault against a police officer, a class A misdemeanor. The judge suspended a portion of the sentence for Pikula, who already is serving jail time on another case, and directed him to complete the CATS program.

Pikula originally was charged with sexual battery, a class A misdemeanor; and interfering with a legal arrest, a class B misdemeanor.

He entered into a plea bargain in November 2009, and the judge dismissed the other two charges.

Problems arose Sept. 16, 2009 in the Green Street Social Club, 602 E. 500 South, when Pikula's brother, John Junior "JJ" Pikula, was celebrating a bachelor party with friends.

Rudy Chacon, a narcotics detective for the Unified Police Department, was also at the club with some of his friends. Chacon ended up shooting JJ Pikula once in the torso and wounding him after JJ Pikula allegedly began beating up Chacon's brother.

Chacon said he was afraid his brother would be killed. He has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors previously said Arnold Pikula was harassing women at the club and tensions grew between the two groups. Club staffers tried to move Pikula's group and that is when JJ Pikula began hitting Chacon's brother, according to law enforcement officials.

When Salt Lake City police arrived on the scene, Arnold Pikula punched one of them in the face and struggled with several officers while they tried to arrest him.

e-mail: lindat@desnews.com