Veteran law enforcer charged and accused of firing shots in hotel room

BLUFFDALE — A veteran law enforcer is facing criminal charges for allegedly firing multiple rounds inside a hotel room and threatening responding police.

Kevin Lee Cheatwood, 59, was charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with two counts of assault on a police officer, a second-degree felony; two counts of discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony; and causing property damage and interfering with police, class B misdemeanors.

On Friday, police responded to a hotel room in Bluffdale on a report that Cheatwood "was inside the bathroom and had fired a round, possibly shooting himself," according to charging documents.

When officers arrived, they spotted two guns inside the room and found Cheatwood "sitting inside the bathtub, facing the bathroom door, and holding a third firearm pointed toward the floor. Cheatwood then pointed the firearm at (two officers), who both retreated from the doorframe into the hotel hallway," the charges state.

A shot was then heard by police. No injuries were reported. After backup officers arrived, they re-engaged with Cheatwood.

"Ultimately officers regained entry into the original room and made contact with Kevin, who was now compliant with officer commands. Kevin was taken into custody and secured in a patrol vehicle," a police booking affidavit states.

After Cheatwood was taken into custody, investigators searched the room and found two shell casings and a bullet hole in the bathroom ceiling.

Prosecutors note in their charges that Cheatwood "was a law enforcement veteran with thirty years of experience after retiring as a law enforcement officer in Geneva County, Alabama, when this incident occurred."

The state has requested that Cheatwood be held in the Salt Lake County Jail without the possibility of posting bail pending trial.

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