Drunk federal police officer puts gun to taxi driver's head

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• published: 29 Oct 2014
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Click here for daily updates on crimes committed by police: http://www.policemisconduct.net/ SALT LAKE CITY — A man arrested and later charged with pointing a gun at an Uber Car Company employee is a federal law enforcement officer. On Oct. 20, Byron Keith McDonald, 44, and three others were picked up from a downtown bar by Uber Car Company employee James Brothers. Three men got into the back seat of the taxi service's vehicle and a woman got in front, Brothers said. The group was going to another location to continue their party, but one of the men told McDonald that he hadn't been "nice" and it would be best if he just went home, Brothers said. The man asked Brothers to take him to the Hilton Hotel, 255 S. West Temple, where McDonald was staying, and drop him off. McDonald climbed into the passenger seat of the car and Brothers said he tried to have a small conversation with him. "Immediately I kind of felt there was something off with him. Not only was he intoxicated, but there had to have been something else. As I'm driving, he's like really paranoid. I have my hand on my leg. And he grabs my hand and firmly places it on the gear shift, and he says, 'You need to keep your hand there.'" While taking McDonald to the hotel, Brothers received a phone call from the man who told him to take McDonald home. McDonald told investigators later that he heard the man say, "Take him home," and "Just get rid of him," according to court documents. McDonald continued to make odd comments, Brothers said, including, "I can't believe this is happening in Utah" and "Do you want to live or die?" "Yes, he's very strange, it's getting awkward but it's not anything alarming yet," he recalled. When they reached the hotel, Brothers turned his vehicle off, but McDonald didn't move. McDonald asked Brothers if he loved his 3-year-old daughter, although he doesn't have any children, and then asked about his girlfriend, said Brothers, who is married. McDonald then asked for a second time, "Well, do you want to live or die?" Brothers said. "I said, 'I want to live.' And so he pulls this gun from behind his waist, sticks it to my head, and then he kind of lowers it and covers it with his arm," he said. Brothers reacted by grabbing his keys out of the ignition, jumping out of the car and calling 911. McDonald grabbed Brothers as he was getting out of the car, ripping his shirt, according to charging documents. "As I was running I was thinking, 'This is crazy,'" Brothers recalled. An officer who responded to the scene spotted McDonald getting out of a hotel elevator still holding a Glock .22 pistol in his right hand near his leg, according to charging documents. A Salt Lake County Jail report states that McDonald had a "strong odor of alcohol" as well as slurred speech and was making incoherent sentences. Brothers has since learned that McDonald is a lieutenant for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services and was on "official travel" at the time of the incident, according to a spokeswoman from the Office of the Assistant Secretary Department of the Interior. "To me, that's amazing. Because you look at these types of individuals as ones that protect us. And then you're put in a situation where you are now fearing for your life over somebody who should be protecting you, and over something I didn't do," Brothers said. The Interior Department issued a brief statement about the incident. "The incident is being investigated by our Internal Affairs Division, which will make use of the investigation being conducted by the Salt Lake City Police Department. Senior managers in the BIA are aware of the decision and are taking steps to investigate the matter properly and then make appropriate decisions in accord with law and policy." Brothers said he "couldn't stop shaking" after the incident and still hasn't gone back to working the same night hours as he was working before. McDonald is charged in 3rd District Court with aggravated assault, a third-degree felony.