SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah — The Utah County Attorney's Office has determined that a Saratoga Springs police officer was not justified in his decision to shoot a suspect who was fleeing from him in October 2024.
On Oct. 17, 2024, 43-year-old Fernando Valenzuela Limon (also known as Santiago Rodarte Jr. or Arbel Guerrero Valenzuela) was pulled over in a traffic stop. At one point, officers attempted to arrest him at gunpoint, and he drove away. One of the officers, Dean Sekona, fired two shots. One struck Valenzuela and entered his left lung. He abandoned his car, fled on foot, was later apprehended and taken to the hospital for treatment.
An "officer-involved critical incident" investigation was initiated, as per protocol, with investigators from various police agencies in Utah County.
Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray recently released his decision on the matter, saying: "I conclude that Officer Sekona was not legally justified in using deadly force against [Valenzuela]."
Although the suspect survived, the shooting qualifies under Utah law as a "use of deadly force." The law states that an officer is justified in using deadly force if the following two criteria are met:
- “the officer reasonably believes that deadly force is necessary to prevent the arrest from being defeated by escape;
"the officer either:
- “has probable cause to believe that the suspect has committed a felony offense involving the infliction or threatened infliction of death or serious bodily injury; or
- “has probable cause to believe the suspect poses a threat of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or to an individual other than the suspect if apprehension is delayed.”
According to the full OICI report, Sekona initially pulled Valenzuela over because he suspected the car's window tint was too dark. He measured it with a tint meter and found that it was 2% light transmittance; the legal minimum is 35%, according to the document.
Valenzuela told Sekona that he did not have a driver's license or any form of legal ID, and his girlfriend — who owned the car and was with him in the vehicle — had a suspended license.
The report also noted that Valenzuela's girlfriend's 13-year-old daughter was in the car with them.
After multiple phone calls to supervisors and other law enforcement agencies, police determined that Valenzuela had arrest warrants under two different names. The Utah Attorney General's office informed Sekona that Valenzuela was under investigation for possible drug trafficking and was known to carry guns.
After other officers arrived on the scene, it was decided that they would arrest Valenzuela at gunpoint. The officers approached his vehicle, pointing their weapons at him and ordering him to put his hands up and get out of the car. Valenzuela initially did raise his hands, but then lowered them and accelerated away while rolling his window up.
Sekona fired two shots with his "patrol rifle." The first went through the rear-driver-side window and hit Valenzuela. The second shot ricocheted off the divider between the main rear-driver-side window and the quarter window behind it, then hit the side mirror.
The County Attorney wrote that with all things considered (including interviews with everyone involved), the circumstances did not meet the threshold for using deadly force — even if the officers believed the suspect could be armed.
"Valenzuela’s ambiguous responses to the officers’ commands, and his decision to flee, was not enough to create probable cause that he was about to use a weapon against the officers or drive toward the officers or others," Gray wrote. "Instead, Valenzuela’s act in driving away diminished the threat to officer safety; it did not heighten it."
Valenzuela was later charged with failure to stop at the command of police, a 3rd-degree felony, and providing false personal information, a Class-C misdemeanor.
Although the shooting was declared non-justified, that does not necessarily mean the officer will be charged. Gray's report states that his office's "Executive Team" will now screen the case to determine if the evidence supports criminal charges.
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