Last defendant pleads guilty for lighting Salt Lake City police car on fire
Sep 17, 2021, 11:55 AM | Updated: 1:00 pm
Christopher Isidro Rojas seen with a lighter and rag in hand. (Court Documents)
(Court Documents)
SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake man has admitted to lighting a police car on fire during the violent protest in Salt Lake City in May 2020.
He’s the final defendant to face consequences.
Salt Lake Police car fire
Christopher Isidro Rojas pleaded guilty to a felony count of civil disorder this week in U.S. District Court. A news release says Rojas admitted to lighting a cloth on fire and throwing it into that police car on May 30, 2020, in front of the main library downtown.
Demonstrators were marching in Salt Lake City after George Floyd’s death in Minnesota. But the event turned violent when a group of people flipped the police car.
Prosecutors had said Rojas also helped rip a bumper off the car and appeared to celebrate in videos.
Rojas faces up to five years in prison and a $2,500 restitution payment when he is sentenced in November.
Two other defendants await sentencing while the last two have already been sentenced to prison time.
Jackson Patton was sentenced in August to two years in prison. Lateesha Richards was also sentenced in August to 20 months.
Latroi Devon Newbins and Larry Raynold Williams Jr. are still waiting for their sentencing. They also pleaded guilty.
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