Utah dad arrested at McDonald’s after allegedly telling 4-year-old to shoot at police
02/22/2022 2:19 pm PST
MIDVALE, Utah (TCD) -- A 27-year-old Salt Lake City-area father was arrested after his young son allegedly pointed a weapon at a cop following an argument at a McDonald’s drive-thru.
According to a statement, on Feb. 21 at 1:30 p.m., Unified Police Department officers responded to a McDonald’s at 425 West 7200 South because a man "brandished a firearm at the employees" due to an incorrect order. Officers arrived at the location and reportedly told the man to get out of the car, but he reportedly did not cooperate. KTVX-TV identified the suspect as Sadaat Johnson.
Unified Police said officers pulled Johnson from the vehicle. When they were putting him into custody, one officer "turned back toward the vehicle and saw a gun pointing out from the rear window." The officer reportedly informed the others that there was a gun and swiped the firearm to the side right as it fired. The officer who moved the gun reportedly "recognized the young age of the individual with the firearm and yelled out 'kid' to the other officers."
The child who pointed the gun at officers is reportedly 4 years old and was in the back seat with a 3-year-old sibling. The statement noted, "Information collected during this ongoing investigation indicates that the father of the child told the child to shoot at the police."
An arrest report cited by KUTV-TV says, "Post Miranda, the driver, later identified as Sadaat Johnson stated that he blacked out and that he did not remember brandishing the gun or racking a round at the McDonald’s employee. The driver did admit that this was not the first time that his son had gotten ahold of his gun."
According to Unified Police, the officer sustained a minor injury to his arm but no other injuries were reported.
Salt Lake County Jail records show Johnson was booked on charges of child abuse and use of a dangerous weapon in fight.
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