2 men charged with kidnapping Ogden woman at gunpoint in Lehi
Two men accused of kidnapping a woman in Lehi, holding her at gunpoint and then releasing her in Weber County are both facing criminal charges, according to reports.
Jose Manual Batisdas-Gil, 22, of Eagle Mountain and 21-year-old Alan Morales Eduarte of Salt Lake City were charged in court Monday with first-degree felonies, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery, KSL.com reported. The pair also face multiple third-degree felonies of aggravated assault, three counts of possession of a firearm by a restricted person, as well as misdemeanor offenses of failure to stop at command of police and possession of a controlled substance.
Police said that, on Dec. 4, a woman reported being picked up by the two men at a Lehi motel. Upon entering their vehicle, the alleged victim said both men appeared to be under the influence of drugs “and could visibly see pink pills in the car,” according to the Lehi Police Department’s probable cause statement.
The woman told police both men had firearms in the vehicle and reportedly were “waving them around” with their hands, the affidavit said.
According to the woman’s account of the incident, the men, who she says were driving her home to Ogden, at some point took her phone and refused to give it back to her.
She noted that one of the men “racked a gun” and said, “I’m going to kill you,” according to the documents.
The woman also told police she didn’t feel like she could leave the car, as the men allegedly made continuous threats toward her during the trip.
While they were driving in Roy, the woman reportedly noticed a police officer, rolled down her window and tried to call for help, but one of the men placed a gun in her mouth and made yet another threat toward her, the documents state.
The woman eventually was dropped off at an unspecified location in Roy. She later contacted police and gave them a description of the two men and their vehicle.
Investigators were able to track the woman’s phone back to the Lehi motel where the two men were staying, but they left their room through the window just before police entered, documents state.
Neither suspect complied with police commands upon being confronted, the affidavit alleged.
Eventually, both men were apprehended and booked into the Utah County Jail.
Police reportedly discovered several firearms, marijuana and a large amount of pink pills inside of their motel room, ABC4 reported, citing court documents.