The man arrested in connection with the slaying of an employee at the Family Dollar Store in Glendale also had two outbursts of violence in August, according to court documents.
Three teens have now been arrested in connection with the March 12 shooting of 49-year-old Wally Knapton and robbery of the store, 1145 S. Glendale Drive, (1350 West). Biu Olive, who turned 18 Monday, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of first-degree felony murder and two counts of aggravated robbery. Olive took items from the store in addition to robbing a customer inside, according to jail records.
A 13-year-old boy was arrested on similar charges and placed in juvenile detention.
A third person, 19-year-old Sarah Ataata, was arrested Tuesday night and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery. Investigators said she was the getaway driver and knew the other two had intentions of robbing the store, according to jail documents. She received $60 for her part in the crime, jail documents state.
Since August, Olive has been charged in juvenile court with five felonies and seven misdemeanors stemming from two incidents.
On Aug. 11, 2007, two police officers were shot at by a fleeing vehicle on Emery Street. No one was injured in the incident. The officers were forced to call off the chase but did a check on the license plate and found the vehicle was registered to a house at 636 South Emery Street — the same residence where Olive and the juvenile were arrested Monday.
While police were setting up a containment around the Emery house, another vehicle drove to a street behind the residence. The passenger fired six shots from a handgun, according to court documents. Police caught the vehicle. Olive was the person in the passenger seat who fired the shots, according to court documents. He told investigators he fired shots in the air to try and distract them, court documents state.
Olive was charged in juvenile court with obstructing justice, a first degree felony, six counts of discharging a firearm, all class A misdemeanors, and a class B misdemeanor of carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle.
But law enforcers say that wasn't Olive's only violent incident that day.
Earlier that day, three girls and a male were standing in front of a friend's house in Salt Lake City when a car pulled up and Olive got out, according to court documents. Olive asked the four what gang they belonged to.
"This same male then pulled out a black handgun and pointed it at all four kids," court documents state.
After pointing the gun at one of the girls and telling her to "shut up," Olive hit the temple of one of the girls "lightly with the barrel of the gun a couple of times."
Olive then punched the male in the jaw.
"The punch sent (the male) to the ground where he lost conscious," according to court documents.
Olive then pointed the gun at another girl and told her to "shut up."
He spent 10 days in juvenile detention before being assigned to a non-residential community placement center on Aug. 21, 2007 where he spent 29 days. On Sept. 21, 2007, Olive was placed on home detention where as of Tuesday had spent 75 days.
A trial date for the juvenile incident was scheduled for April 21. Charges against Olive and Ataata in the killing and robbery were pending Wednesday morning.
Because Olive is over 16, is expected to be charged with homicide and was previously incarcerated as a juvenile, the Salt Lake District Attorney's Office will be able to directly file charges in adult court even though he was 17 when the slaying was committed.
What happens to the 13-year-old, however, could potentially remain unknown.
Under state law, court proceedings for children under the age of 14 are not public, even if the defendant is charged with a first-degree felony or charged in a high profile case. Juveniles in that position could be tried, convicted and sentenced without any mention made to the public.
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com