SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A 26-year-old man is facing charges for allegedly smashing a glass door at Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s campaign office in downtown Salt Lake City earlier this month. He’s also accused of stalking the governor and throwing rocks at the governor’s mansion.
Samuel Zun, of Highland Park, Illinois, was charged Monday in Salt Lake County with one count of third-degree property damage, a felony, and one count of stalking, as class A misdemeanor, court documents filed in Salt Lake County show.
According to the charging documents, law enforcement repeatedly encountered Zun over the last several weeks. The first incident was in early October at the governor’s mansion, where Zun was yelling outside the residence, causing concern for Cox’s family. Utah Highway Patrol troopers responded, spoke with Zun and sent him on his way.
Early this month, state troopers found Zun outside the Utah State Capitol several times, where he complained about not being able to get a driver’s license, saying that he was “done with Utah,” the documents state. In these incidents, troopers likewise diffused the situation.
On Nov. 5, however, Zun again appeared at the Capitol, asking to be arrested so he could be off the streets. Troopers referred him to a homeless shelter, and he left upset.
Roughly an hour later, troopers saw on Capitol surveillance that Zun jumped over a railing into a restricted area and traversed a ledge that leads to various offices, including the governor’s office, the documents state. Troopers found Zun trying to open a locked door, pounding on the windows.
When asked if he’d broken any windows that night, Zun told troopers he hadn’t broken windows at the capital but did at Cox’s campaign office downtown. Zun added that he’d also throw rocks at the governor’s mansion that evening.
At the campaign office, investigators found the main glass door shattered and the window next to it cracked, with spider-web fractures. According to the documents, the estimated damage was more than $3,000.
Troopers took Zun into custody at the Capitol. He was carrying several rocks, each slightly larger than the size of a golf ball.
Surveillance video at the governor’s mansion showed Zun throwing something at the residence and leaving. Two rocks roughly the size of golf balls were found at the scene. The mansion was not damaged.
While troopers detained Zun that night, he was brought to a hospital for an evaluation and later released, Maj. Steve Salas told reporters the day after the incident, adding that authorities were working with Zun’s family to address his mental health issues.
On Nov. 6, the day after the campaign office window smashing, Zun allegedly called West Valley police, telling them he needed to be placed in handcuffs or he’d commit a serious crime, the documents state. Officers in the city tried to do a welfare check on Zun, but they couldn’t find him. He’d turned off his phone.
According to the warrant for Zun’s arrest, prosecutors said that Zun “poses a substantial risk and danger” to the governor, noting that a military recruiter from Illinois told authorities that Zun was overly interested in “killing enemies” and discussed getting into fights with “Utah senators.”
According to jail roster records, Zun was arrested on Wednesday. He is being held in Salt Lake County without bail.
