Bluffdale man arrested in shooting of neighborhood watch participant
Altercation » Fueled by father's belief the group was harassing his daughter
By Melinda Rogers
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 07/22/2009 12:29:05 PM MDT



Police have arrested a Bluffdale man they say shot and critically injured a neighbor who had been patrolling their affluent subdivision as part of a watch group.
Reginald Campos, 43, was booked Wednesday into the Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of second-degree felony attempted murder in the shooting of David Serbeck, 36. Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson said Campos believed Serbeck and another watch group member had been harassing his daughter.
Serbeck had organized a watch group in response to several recent car burglaries, according to Hutson. Serbeck and the president of the neighborhood's homeowner's association were driving in an SUV near 1570 West and Iron Horse Boulevard (15375 South) in the Parry Farms subdivision around midnight when they observed two 16-year-old girls walking, Hutson said.
The pair stopped the girls to ask them what they were doing in the neighborhood.
"The vehicle pulled up and they said 'Hey, what's up, how are you doing?' " Hutson said.
He said the two girls kept on walking and returned to one of the girl's homes. They got in a vehicle and drove to another friend's house, where they planned to have a sleepover, Hutson said.
On the way there, the girls spotted Serbeck's SUV and became frightened that he was following them, Hutson said.
The girls drove erratically back to the house they came from and one of the girls told her father the men had been heckling them, Hutson said.
The girl's father, 43-year-old Reginald Campos, then drove around the neighborhood in his SUV until he located the vehicle driven by Serbeck.
"The father becomes concerned and goes with [his daughter] and looks for the men. He wants to find out what the men are doing harassing his daughter and her friends," Hutson said.
Campos then had "some sort of exchange" with Serbeck and the homeowner's association president, Hutson said. All the men where outside their vehicles standing in the road, he said.
Campos and Serbeck both displayed handguns, according to Hutson. Campos fired at least three rounds, striking Serbeck once in his shoulder, he said.
The bullet caused a severe spinal cord injury and Serbeck is in critical condition at Intermountain Medical Center, Hutson said.
Police arrived at the scene shortly after midnight after Campos called 911 to report he shot a man. Campos waited at the scene until authorities arrived, Hutson said.
The Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office will screen charges for Campos on Thursday, Hutson said.
Campos and his family live in the same neighborhood the watch group was patrolling.
Campos does not have a concealed-weapons permit, but Utah law allows for a firearm to be kept in a vehicle. Whether Campos was legally using the gun to defend himself once he stepped outside the vehicle is what is in question, Hutson said.
Serbeck holds a concealed-weapons permit.
mrogers@sltrib.com