SOUTH SALT LAKE — A Unified police officer working with the Metro Gang Unit was legally justified in shooting at a wanted man who rammed two police vehicles while trying to get away.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced Wednesday that detective Cody Pender will not face criminal charges for shooting at Nicholas David Sickler on March 8, 2024.

On that day, members of the gang unit were looking for Sickler who had fled from Salt Lake police earlier in the day. Officers staked out the Commons apartments, 2860 S. 200 East. They spotted him in a vehicle he had stolen and attempted to box him in, according to Gill’s report.

But as police closed in, Sickler used the Nissan Xterra he was driving to hit an unmarked police vehicle. Another police vehicle then rammed Sickler’s ve

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