Among recent incidents in the Summit County Sheriff’s report, deputies responded to two fights, in different circumstances.
In one, a martial-arts instructor faced off with a rowdy student.
The other case was another conflict over mask regulations.
Sheriff’s Lt. Andrew Wright said officers responded to a ju-jitsu studio in Pinebrook on the night of January 20th.
They were told that a new student in the class, who appeared intoxicated, had been disruptive, loud and was aggressive toward the instructor.
The instructor tried to calm the student several times. But when the suspect tried to hit him, the teacher subdued him with a ju-jitsu “takedown” and held him to the floor. When the suspect tried to hit him again, the instructor took him down again.
Officers reported the suspect’s speech was slurred, he appeared unfocused, and he denied that a fight had taken place. He said it was just training and “sometimes this stuff happens.” He was bleeding from a cut on his upper nose where he had been struck by the instructor’s elbow.
The suspect, who also had an active arrest warrant out of Salt Lake, was identified as 34-year-old Javan Padilla from Orem. He was booked into the County Jail for assault.
In the other case, a fight in progress at a hotel in the Canyons was reported about 45 minutes after midnight, of Saturday the 6th.
Officers were told a taxi driver picked up five passengers from a Main Street bar. When one of the riders pulled down his mask to speak to his son on the phone, the driver said the riders were required to keep their masks on at all times in the vehicle.
When they arrived, the passenger walked around to the driver, blew on him and said, “Now, you’re infected.”. A fight ensued.
Officers interviewed the driver, a 47-year-old Salt Lake City man, and the passenger, a 33-year-old man from Harvey, Louisiana, but their stories were completely different about who started the fight.
The case has been forwarded to the County Attorney’s Office for screening.