Salt Lake man faces federal arson charge in burning of police car

A police car is engulfed in flames as people protest police brutality in Salt Lake City on Saturday, May 30, 2020. Protesters joined others across the nation to decry the death of George Floyd, a black man , who died while being taken into custody by police in Minneapolis earlier this week. Video showed an officer kneeling on his neck while he implored, “I can’t breathe.” | Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — Federal charges were filed Wednesday against a Salt Lake man accused of setting a Salt Lake police car on fire during Saturday’s protest and riot around the Salt Lake City Main Library.

Jackson Stuart Tamowski Patton, 26, of Salt Lake City, was arrested Tuesday night and formally charged Wednesday with arson.

On Saturday, protesters flipped an unoccupied Salt Lake police patrol car at 400 South near 200 East onto its hood and eventually set it on fire.

Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News

People overturn a police car as they protest police brutality in Salt Lake City on, Saturday, May 30, 2020. Protesters joined others across the nation after George Floyd, a black man in Minnesota, died when a video showed an officer kneeling on his neck while he implored, “I can’t breathe.”

“This police squad car was abandoned after people in the protest stopped the officer driving in the area by blocking the road and the vehicle’s path. The crowd was becoming increasingly hostile toward the officer in the vehicle, causing the officer to run away from the crowd leaving the car behind,” according to a police affidavit.

Before flipping the car over, some protesters used skateboards and pipes to smash the vehicle, the affidavit says.

Patton is one of the men seen in surveillance video “damaging the police vehicle by kicking the roof. (He) was also seen on video lighting the vehicle on fire using what appeared to be a substance,” according to the report.

Charging documents add that Patton “appears to be throwing an unknown substance from what appears to be a canister into the patrol car, causing the flames to increase.”

An investigator with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives determined the “destruction of the patrol incendiary in nature,” the charges state.

Patton was arrested Tuesday after once again being in the downtown area and violating the city’s mandatory curfew, police say. Officers recognized him by his tattoos, according to the charges.

“We value and support the rights we all enjoy to peacefully demonstrate and advocate for our beliefs. However, we have zero tolerance for those who hijack peaceful protests and commit violations of federal law,” U.S. Attorney John Huber said Wednesday. “Those involved in this criminal behavior — including the conduct alleged in this complaint — should know that we will use every available tool we have to hold them accountable.”

If convicted, Patton faces a minimum-mandatory sentence of five years in federal prison, and possibly up to 20 years.

Patton is the second person arrested for allegedly flipping over the patrol car.

On Sunday, Connor Peebles, 21, was arrested for investigation of criminal mischief, rioting and assault on a police officer. Peebles turned himself in after Salt Lake police released surveillance photos of the people they were looking for.

At least two other people were arrested during protests in downtown Salt Lake City on Tuesday night in what was a much more peaceful demonstration than Saturday,

Taylor Phippen Adams, 31, was arrested for investigation of failing to disperse and violating curfew. Adams failed to leave the state Capitol grounds after being given a 30-minute notice that curfew was about to go into effect, and 15 minutes after the curfew began, according to a police affidavit.

“He informed (officers) he was not leaving and was then taken into custody,” the affidavit states.

Michael Robert Madsen, 32, was arrested for investigation of failing to disperse, intoxication and disorderly conduct. Madsen was also near the Capitol grounds, “yelling and screaming profanity,” a police affidavit says.

“The subject was told to leave multiple times. The subject would ride his bike a short distance away from me and continue to yell and scream profanity. I asked the subject to stop yelling and he continued to yell. The subject was given several chances to leave and obey the curfew, and he continued to disregard,” the affidavit states.

Salt Lake County Jail

Jackson Stuart Tamowski Patton, 26, of Salt Lake City, was arrested Tuesday night for investigation of rioting, arson and criminal mischief. He was one of the people who helped flip over a Salt Lake police car on Saturday and set it on fire, according to police.

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