SALT LAKE CITY — Two brothers have been arrested following an investigation into a large fight that ended with shots being fired into a crowd.
Yanick Baitia, 18, and Styve Baitia, 20, were arrested Thursday for investigation of aggravated assault and illegal discharge of a firearm. Yanick was also arrested on suspicion of making threats with a weapon during a fight.
On April 12, Salt Lake police responded to a “large-scale fight” at 279 S. 5600 West. Yanick Baitia pointed a gun at a crowd, causing them to move back, before getting into a vehicle. But he then got back out of the car and racked his gun, “causing a round to fall on the ground,” according to a police booking affidavit.
Baitia got back into the vehicle with his brother and “shots were fired from their vehicle toward a large crowd, causing mass panic and individuals to jump on the ground and hide,” the affidavit states.
No injuries were reported. The headlight of one car was struck, according to the affidavit.
On Thursday, the Salt Lake City Police SWAT team assisted gang detectives in serving a search warrant at Yanick Baitia’s residence, where he was arrested.
Detectives found “many handgun rounds matching the same caliber and type of ammunition as used in the shooting along with an extended round Glock magazine. In the residence, many drug-related items and disposable THC cartridges were located,” the affidavit states.
Styve Baitia was originally arrested on April 13 and later charged on April 16 with being a restricted person in possession of a gun, a second-degree felony; failing to stop for police, a third-degree felony; running from police, a class A misdemeanor; and marijuana possession, a class B misdemeanor.
He was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail but posted bail the next day. Styve Baitia was re-booked into jail on Thursday for investigation of his new charges.
“This incident involved (Styve Baitia and his brother) shooting into a large crowd of approximately 30-plus people, causing them to run and hide in fear. (Styve Baitia) has now been connected to several shootings in the Salt Lake Valley and Ogden,” a police booking affidavit states.
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