Utah officer accused of shooting unarmed man faces manslaughter charge

The shooting happened about half a mile (1 kilometer) outside the Taylorsville city limits in suburbs a few miles (5 kilometers) south of downtown Salt Lake City.

Prosecutors in court documents didn't identify the man shot but said that Haas, driving an unmarked police spot-utility vehicle, had followed the pickup truck into a parking lot.

Earlier, a different Taylorsville officer had taken note of the pickup for carrying the license plates of a different vehicle that had fled from Salt Lake City police earlier in the day.

Once in the parking lot, the pickup parked between two other vehicles. Haas pulled up behind it, turned on his police lights, got out, and activated his body-worn video camera.

A woman got out of the pickup, which then backed up and began ramming Haas's police SUV. Haas yelled multiple times, “Let me see your hands,” prosecutors allege in the documents.

The Taylorsville officer who'd first seen the pickup truck then arrived and used his vehicle to pin the pickup against a building.

As Haas's flashlight shone on the driver through the pickup's back window, Haas fired once, prosecutors allege. The wounded man fled and was later found unresponsive in a nearby garage.

He died later. No weapons were found in the pickup truck or on his body, prosecutors allege.

Haas, 36, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Haas was placed on paid leave for several months during the initial shooting investigation. He was reinstated and is now back on paid leave pending further proceedings, City of Taylorsville spokesperson Kim Horiuchi said by email.

“We have confidence in the system and we believe every person is innocent until they are proven guilty at trial," Horiuchi wrote.

Horiuchi declined to comment further, citing city policy not to comment on matters including personnel and the status of criminal investigations.

Haas's attorney, Blake Hamilton, did not immediately return an email message seeking comment.