SALT LAKE CITY — A deputy with the U.S. Marshals Service was legally justified last year in shooting and injuring a wanted fugitive during a standoff, even though the fugitive was unarmed, the Salt Lake County district attorney announced Friday.
Daniel Lynn Meinhart, 43, was on probation and had multiple warrants out for his arrest when he was spotted by members of the Violent Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team on Nov. 4 in his Dodge Charger in the parking lot of a business near 900 East and 2100 South. Deputies noted that Meinhart had a “violent criminal history, which included multiple aggravated assaults and attempted murder of a police officer, had a history of fleeing, was a gang member, had a firearm and had made recent statements about ‘not going back,’” according to District Attorney Sim Gill’s final report.
Marshals monitored Meinhart using the Department of Public Safety helicopter while deputies got into position to take him into custody. As deputies entered the parking lot in unmarked vehicles, Meinhart recognized them as law enforcers and drove off. Near 922 E. 2100 South, Meinhart “drove onto the sidewalk, knocked over a light pole in the parking strip and continued on the sidewalk before colliding into a brick wall and getting pinned in from behind by a pursuing unmarked vehicle,” the report states…