KEARNS, Utah — Three men have been charged with aggravated kidnapping along with other related charges due to a confrontation over an illicit drug related debt.
In charging documents, Unified Police Department explains that on November 19th officers responded to a tip that drugs were being trafficked from a home in Kearns. Officers pursued two vehicles that left the house onto northbound I-15. During the pursuit, one of the officers was informed that a woman had been kidnapped from the home.
A man called 911 and stated that he and his girlfriend were robbed by individuals later identified as Jerod Bowers, Dwight Messick, and Daniel Roberts. Unified Police Department officers say that the woman was taken into one of the vehicles they were pursuing after they refused to hand over money during the robbery.
Officers conducted a high-risk vehicle stop when they located the woman in the vehicle. She stated that the three men took her against her will after confronting her boyfriend about a drug debt. Charging documents say the three men told the couple they were hired to rob, kidnap, or kill them before they demanded money in exchange for freedom. The man claimed to hear Messick say "let's just do it and smoke them right here" before taking $380 from the couple. The woman said Bowers, Messick and Roberts attempted to force her boyfriend into the vehicle when she volunteered to go in his place, believing there was less of a chance she would be killed.
The next day, officers interviewed a woman who witnessed the kidnapping and robbery and corroborated the couple's statements. Officers also questioned the owner of the home the incident occurred in, who said Bowers, Messick and Roberts were hired to shoot the couple.
