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MOAB — A man has been arrested in Utah after police say he kidnapped a Colorado woman and threatened her family members — including children — because he was upset about someone stealing guns and drugs from him.
Late Tuesday, a Grand County sheriff's deputy pulled over Kenneth Lee Price, 59, in Moab for a traffic violation. While Price was looking for documents to hand to the deputy, the deputy "observed a young female that seemed out of place and an open bottle of whiskey on the floor in the passenger area," according to a police booking affidavit.
After also observing drug paraphernalia in the car, the deputy asked Price to step out of the vehicle, but he was reluctant to do, the affidavit states.
"I opened the driver's door to get him out and observed a short-barreled shotgun between the driver's door and seat. I immediately ordered him out of the vehicle and placed him in restraints. A search of the vehicle was conducted and two more loaded firearms were located," according to the arrest report.
The deputy also reported finding two bags of methamphetamine in the vehicle, as well as marijuana and "a law enforcement officer's badge out of Colorado."
The woman in the passenger seat told another deputy she was afraid of the man she was with, the affidavit says. The woman was taken away from the scene to speak freely with an investigator.
"The female told investigators that someone she knew had stolen $62,000, firearms, and a large quantity of drugs from Kenneth. She stated that because of this theft, Kenneth had been threatening to kill the family members and children of the female. The female victim stated that she could see no way to keep her children safe other than offering herself over to Kenneth," the affidavit alleges.
The woman said she got in the car with Price who started driving, "at which point he impersonated an officer and showed her two badges and a sheriff's hat and stated that he was a cop. After crossing into Utah from Colorado, she states she knew that she was not free to leave," according to the affidavit.
The woman told police that Price took her cellphone and removed her SIM card, broke her phone and told her she was not going back to Colorado.
Price was booked into the Grand County Jail for investigation of 14 potential criminal charges, including kidnapping, three counts of possession of a weapon by a restricted person, carrying a short-barreled shotgun, and drug possession.
