Three men have been charged with storming a house and beating a male occupant with baseball bats.
The victim was at his West Salt Lake home on Dec. 4, 1998, when the assailants broke through the front door, prosecutors believe. The three men hit the victim in the head and torso area. They continued to beat him after he fell to the ground, according to the charges filed in 3rd District Court Tuesday.The occupant's wife heard her child screaming and walked out to see what was going on. When she saw the men beating her husband, she climbed out a window and went to a neighbor's house to call police, according to the court documents.
The assailants fired at least two gunshots at the house as they left. A witness heard the shots and saw the men get into a car and leave, investigators said.
The witness identified the men in a lineup, according to the charges.
The men, ages 39, 42 and 37, face one count of aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony, and one count of aggravated assault, a second-degree felony. A judge set bail at $250,000 each.