Police: Utah men rob father and daughter at gunpoint, then father pulls his gun on them
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Liesl Nielsen, KSL.com
SALT LAKE CITY — Two cousins robbed a girl and her father at gunpoint when the four met up to sell a phone in Salt Lake City on Saturday. Then, the father pulled out his own gun and fired at the cousins as they ran away, jail records show.
One of the cousins, 20-year-old Buk Mawut Buk, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail later that day on suspicion of two counts of aggravated robbery and intentionally giving false information to an officer, according to a police affidavit. Buk’s cousin was a juvenile and his name will not be released, police said.
The girl’s father will not face charges, according to Unified Police Sgt. Melody Gray.
Earlier on Saturday, the girl found an iPhone on a classifieds site and began messaging the seller, who identified himself as “Lil,” jail records state. The girl and the seller agreed that she would pay $290 for the iPhone and planned to meet at 3400 W. 5620 South in Salt Lake later that day.
The girl and her father withdrew the agreed-upon amount in cash from an ATM, then drove to the address the seller had provided about 6:15 p.m., according to a police affidavit. But when they knocked on the door, they didn’t get an answer.
As they returned to their car, two men approached them, brandishing a knife and gun. The two demanded the money, as well as a phone that was sitting on the center console of the father’s car, jail records show. The girl and her father handed over the money and phone, and the pair fled.
As the two ran away, the girl’s father pulled out his own gun and fired three rounds at them because he “was in fear for others’ lives, knowing they had a gun,” according to jail records.
The two males were not hit, but Unified police officers later found Buk and his younger cousin, both of whom matched the description the father gave officers, the police affidavit states.
During interviews with the pair, officers discovered they were related and that Buk had made the ad for the phone. Buk also admitted to planning and committing the robbery and confessed that he had both a knife and a semi-automatic style BB gun but threw them away while running from police, according to jail records.
When Buk was initially interviewed, he gave the detective the name of one of his other cousins, jail records show. When detectives contacted the juvenile’s mother, she told police Buk had given them the name of one of her other sons who was home with her at the time of the robbery. Buk is her nephew, but she has raised him like a son, she told police.
Buk was found guilty of shoplifting and failing to appear in court in 2018 and has been charged with several other misdemeanors in the past, including theft, interference with an officer and obstruction of justice. He has also had warrants issued for his arrest, court records show.