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- A South Salt Lake police trainee was arrested and accused of being intoxicated on duty.
- Michael Starley Hatch, 60, was armed and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.075%, police say.
- Hatch, a former Salt Lake City police captain, is no longer employed.
SOUTH SALT LAKE — A South Salt Lake police trainee was arrested and accused of being intoxicated while on duty.
Michael Starley Hatch, 60, "was conducting business as a police officer and was armed with a handgun while intoxicated," according to a police booking affidavit.
Hatch was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Sunday for investigation of DUI and carrying a gun while under the influence.
A police supervisor for South Salt Lake called a Utah Highway Patrol trooper to the South Salt Lake Police Department just after 8 a.m. "because a police officer was potentially under the influence of alcohol," the affidavit states. The UHP was called so an outside agency could investigate the case and South Salt Lake could avoid a conflict of interest.
"Hatch, a police officer trainee, was operating a vehicle during his patrol shift under the supervision of a field training officer. The field training officer could smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Hatch's breath," according to the affidavit.
The officer contacted his supervisor who then had every officer on duty submit to a breath test. "Only Hatch was positive for alcohol," the affidavit says.
"I spoke to Hatch. I could see that Hatch's eyes were glossy and extremely bloodshot. I could smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Hatch's breath while I was speaking to him. I asked Hatch when he last consumed an alcoholic beverage. Hatch told me he drank a pint of tequila last night around 11 p.m.," the arresting trooper wrote.
A breath test measured Hatch's blood-alcohol level at 0.075%.
South Salt Lake police say Hatch — who had been with the department for less than four weeks — "is no longer employed by the South Salt Lake Police Department." Prior to joining South Salt Lake, Hatch was with the Salt Lake City Police Department for over 20 years and rose to the rank of captain. His position was eliminated, however, in 2024, and he was not selected as one of the department's new "commanders."
