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SLCPD Safely Arrests Shooting Suspect

SALT LAKE CITY — Officers and detectives with the Salt Lake City Police Department have safely arrested a 34-year-old man who shot at a tow truck driver.

This investigation started at 9:41 p.m. on August 27, 2023, when SLC911 dispatched patrol officers to an apartment complex near 1740 West Gertie Avenue on reports of a shooting.

During the investigation, officers learned the victim, a tow truck driver, had just finished securing a car on his rig and started leaving when he heard his rear back window shatter.

The tow truck driver continued driving to the impound yard in Murray, Utah.

Officers and detectives reviewed video the shooting and determined Oscar Rivera ran behind the tow truck as the driver left the apartment complex. While running behind the moving truck, Rivera is accused of shooting at the driver and his tow truck.

The bullet shattered the back window and lodged in the passenger headrest.

The shooting did not physically hurt the tow truck driver.

On Friday, September 1, 2023, detectives with the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Team (VCAT) located Rivera in a car near Redwood Road and Cesar Chavez Drive in West Valley, Utah. When officers tried to take Rivera into custody, inside a parking lot, he resisted.

Detectives safely took Rivera into custody and booked him into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail on charges of felony discharge of a firearm, aggravated assault, and possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person.

Charges are only allegations, and every arrested person is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Salt Lake City Police Department is not the custodian of record for jail booking photos. Utah Code 17-22-30 mostly prohibits the release of jail booking photos. Generally, a jail booking photo can only be released by the custodian of record after a conviction or when law enforcement determines the person is a fugitive or an imminent threat to a person or public safety. In Salt Lake City, the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office is the custodian of record for jail booking photos.

No further information on this case is being released. Neither the PIO nor the On-Duty Watch Commander are available for interviews.

The SLCPD Violent Criminal Apprehension Team (VCAT) is a specialty unit within the department responsible for combating violent crime, by identifying and apprehending violent criminals and fugitives.  This unit works under the SLCPD Special Operations Division but also works closely with the Investigations, Patrol and Data and Research divisions to identify and direct targeted enforcement of hot spot areas and areas of rising violent crime.

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