Tragic death of Chandler Grillone sparks debate on police, mental health protocols

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A tragic incident involving a mentally ill man has sparked questions about the adequacy of mental health care and the circumstances leading to his death. A 2News Investigation into the possible failure of the mental health system that has left a trail of victims and Chandler Grillone, a man diagnosed with schizophrenia dead.

Grillone was shot and killed by Salt Lake City Police Officer Clifton Payton in early January after Grillone came out of the darkness and attacked him when he got out of his patrol car.

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Grillone told him he was conducting a “citizen’s audit” during a traffic stop involving a man who had pulled over and Officer Payton was trying to determine if his truck was on the road legally. Officer Payton had a female community member in his patrol car who was on a ride-along. Both the woman and the driver were in the middle of the deadly encounter.

Mom says son should have been in locked-down facility – not free to roam

Grillone’s mother, Rhonda expressed her heartbreak, stating that her son shied away from using illegal drugs. In fact, court records 2News Investigates obtained show he has never once been arrested for a drug-related offense in Utah. Those same records show he sometimes drank alcohol. She says despite numerous hospital visits and attempts at treatment over 15 years, a clear diagnosis remained elusive. More recently, mental health professionals diagnosed Chandler with schizophrenia, but a 2News Investigation asks was it being adequately treated and whether Utah’s mental health system is hurting those it is meant to help by giving some the least restrictive means.

Rhonda was not able to speak for her son for this report. She says the emotions are just too raw. She says the officer should never have been put in that position to begin with and that Chandler should have been in a locked-down facility that night, not left free to roam.

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2News Investigates did a deep dive searching for answers after Chandler Grillone’s repeated run-ins with the law and police ended tragically.

AUGUST 20, 2021, PSYCHOTIC EPISODE

We obtained body camera footage from August 20, 2021, from the Unified Police Department. On that night Grillone’s wife called the police, reporting a schizophrenic episode. During the encounter, he exhibited erratic behavior, was incoherent and was seen skipping down the streets. Multiple UPD officers responded along with paramedics. The officers encountered Grillone right away with his hands up in the air flailing as he ran toward them.

UPD Officer: Relax.
Chandler Grillone: See you’re not dead.
UPD Officer: Relax. Do not fight.
Chandler Grillone: Don’t fight with me cop.
UPD Officer: Watch out, watch out, fence, fence.
Chandler Grillone: I got you.

They tried to get ahold of him and that’s when Grillone tried to disarm UPD Officer Alex Gonzalez.

UPD Officer: You gonna comply or not?
Chandler Grillone: Yes, comply. They’ll take me to National Guard. High school sucks too.
UPD Officer Alex Gonzalez: Don’t grab that.
Chandler Grillone: I didn’t grab anything.
UPD Officer Alex Gonzalez: Don’t grab my taser. Do not grab my f**king taser.
Chandler Grillone: Don’t kill me. I’m dead. I love you. Love. Gospel. Bible. God, help me.
UPD Officer: Hey, relax dude.
Chandler Grillone: My wife, my wife.

He assaulted an officer and began to ramble incoherently.

Chandler Grillone: Shut up. I work in a coffee shop. Ow. Thank you, you hit me. I didn’t say anything. Guilty. Shut up look out right now. How many times do I have to die?

One of the officers asked him if he knew where he was. He responded, “I died. Shut up.” And then said, “The people out there with shotguns and guns and knives and grenades literally.”

Paramedics helped put him on a gurney. At this point he shouted, “Grenade. Knife. Help me. Book of Mormon. Don’t kill me. You’re dead grenade. Give me money right now, cellphone I can fix that at cellphone repair shop I died. I win, you’re dead.”

Assault on staff members at Marriott Hotel

In April 2024, Grillone assaulted employees in the Marriott Hotel at City Creek in downtown Salt Lake and this was not the first time. As soon as Salt Lake City Police ran into the lobby, they found his victims and hotel staff pinning him down on the ground.

One hotel staff member told the officer Grillone grabbed ahold of his shirt and ripped it right down causing him to lose his cellphone which was in the pocket of his shirt. The body camera footage shows his shirt was essentially ripped in half. The hotel engineer told the officers that he’s had enough, and he wanted Grillone “gone.” He said, “Do you understand that you guys have been here numerous times I’ve kept count.”

Grillone had to be put in a restraint device because he was uncooperative with the police.

Church Attack

The following month in May of 2024, Grillone assaulted multiple people with a bamboo sword and his fists during mass at the Cathedral of the Madeleine Church on South Temple Street in downtown Salt Lake. They held him down on the ground outside waiting for Salt Lake City Police to get there. The first officer asked Grillone if he was injured and he replied, “I was shot.” They moved him away from the steps of the church and he refused to comply with their commands. They tried to put him in the backseat of the police SUV, but he somehow flipped himself over and landed on the ground. The officer ran to the other side and saw him upside down and said, “Hey, don’t throw yourself on the ground like that.”

Then they put a restraint device on him they called a “wrap,” the same restraint system they used at the hotel the month before. As they were doing this an officer said to him, “I think you already lost it cause you just went into that church and assaulted a bunch of people.” He told the officer, “Oh no, I blessed someone.”

Accepted into mental health court

For the church attack, he was given a plea in abeyance from the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office, meaning the prosecution was suspended. He was accepted into Mental Health Court and placed on probation under the supervision of Adult Probation and Parole. Records show he complied with treatment and medication but struggled making some appointments at the courthouse with his mental health team.

2News Investigates obtained Grillone’s Offender History Report through a public records request from the Utah Department of Corrections of which AP&P is under – which began on November 15, 2024. His supervision was brief, but AP&P’s notes show he was compliant with treatment, medications, and urinalysis testing and showed no positive UAs for drugs. One entry shows a medication change was making him foggy.

On January 7, 2025, two days before he was killed, Grillone met with his agent Jerry Aaron during an office visit. Agent Aaron noted that he seemed overly relaxed and calm. He also noted, “I had the impression that his mental illness is extreme, and maybe he was not present in reality.”

‘His mental illness is extreme’

We sought the expertise of Dr. Mark Zelig, a nationally renowned forensic and clinical psychologist who serves as an expert witness or trial consultant for civil and criminal cases involving psychologically based evidence. He has offices in Salt Lake City and Anchorage. Prior to this, Zelig rose through the ranks of the Salt Lake City Police Department and was promoted to lieutenant before retiring in 2001 after 25 years of service.

Zelig had this to say when asked about the entry by the agent that Grillone might not be present in reality. “Well certainly the agent is echoing a concern that they have. In hindsight of course, we always can say the agent should have done something more than what was done.” But admits most agencies are understaffed and carry heavy caseloads and this is a failure of the system overall. AP&P was ordered by the Court to supervise Grillone.

Dr. Mark Zelig: ‘This is extremely provocative behavior’

Zelig analyzed all of the police body camera videos we obtained for this report. He described Grillone’s behavior like this:

“One of the most remarkable features of his presentation is how aggressive and provocative he was. And how he was placing himself at extremely high risk on each of those confrontations.” He added, “This isn’t common, I mean this is extremely provocative behavior.”

Zelig also says, “He seems like he’s a fearful individual. He is very scared of people, the very people who are the least likely to harm them – such as police officers and people in a church. When your fear goes on steroids, you become paranoid.”

Dr. Zelig does not have access to Grillone’s case file. Court documents reveal he has been given lithium and the only mention of possible substance abuse is alcohol.

To that end, Zelig says, “Their risk of violence goes up five-fold when they have a mental illness, and a substance use disorder. This man was very lucky that he didn’t get pummeled at the church. That he happened to assault police officers that were really professional and knew how to handle this sort of crisis. I mean he lucked out a number of times until the last time.”

Least restrictive means

This incident has highlighted systemic issues in mental health care Zelig says must be addressed. Zelig noted that Appellate Court decisions mandate the least restrictive means for managing individuals with mental illness, but local jurisdictions lack the resources to provide adequate care.

Zelig’s assessment of Grillone, “I can say in earlier days when we had more resources – I would have expected this person to go to the Utah State Hospital until we were really sure that he was safe to leave.”

He says if we as a society care about this issue we need to hire more people to address the growing concerns in the mental health care system. He also adds that Appellate Court decisions going back to the late 1960’s mandated least restrictive means.

“When we have somebody who has a mental illness, and who is believed to be a risk to themselves or others we are not allowed, to this wholesale lock them up – we are charged with trying to find the least restrictive environment and those are the magic words – the least restrictive environment – those are the language of the courts to manage this person’s behavior.”

However, he says one of the problems with that mandate from the Appellate Courts is the local jurisdictions responsible for providing those resources, “Were never ordered, were never given mandates as to what sort of resources they have to have available so that’s where it’s really, there’s been a lot of slipping through the cracks at that level, to such an extent that I believe the least restrictive environment has been really watered down in terms of what’s needed to satisfy that threshold to be released into the community.”

What’s more, he says, “We as a society have to have the facilities and we have to have enough personnel so individuals whether they’re physicians making decisions on whether or not this person can go back into the community or probation officers who are wondering about what should I do with my concern because this person seems off, we need more people to help manage this issue. And we need more facilities because the Courts that issued the mandate were not responsible for supplying the infrastructure to allow the mandate to be achieved.”

‘Like dropping a boulder in the middle of the pond, it ripples in all directions’

When asked if the mental health system failed Chandler Grillone, Zelig said, “Yes, the system failed Chandler but there are three people who are victims, in this in the immediate situation, that’s that officer and the two other civilians – not to mention this man’s family and other people that were really affected by his loss. It is tragic and it’s like dropping a boulder in the middle of the pond, it ripples in all directions and affects so many other people.”

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