Threats lead to intense search for infant girl

A man who sparked an intense search Sunday night after making threats against his infant daughter was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail after he and the girl were found safe.

Jeffery Brad Newton, 32, was arrested for investigation of endangering a child, a third-degree felony, and reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor.

Dozens of officers began looking for Newton about 5:15 p.m. after a Magna woman called police and reported that her estranged husband was supposed to bring their 20-month-old daughter home, but had called and "made some pretty serious threats," said Salt Lake County sheriff's Lt. Paul Jaroscak.

Nearly 50 officers from agencies around the valley, including a SWAT team and a helicopter, were involved in the search for the man, Jaroscak said. A sheriff's deputy finally spotted the man around 8 p.m. on eastbound I-80 near 5600 West. Officers made a high-risk stop and took the man into custody without further incident, Jaroscak said.

"He was cooperative," he said. "The child was just fine."

Investigators were "highly concerned" however, about what they found outside the man's car.

A garden hose was rigged up next to the car's tailpipe, "like it was ready to go," Jaroscak said.

The hose was in a position that one end could have quickly been placed in the tailpipe and the other inside the car.

Whether that what Newton actually intended to do, whether he was just trying to scare someone or if the hose was for an entirely separate purpose altogether was still being investigated Monday. Jaroscak said Newton had not been cooperative with detectives so far.

In January, Newton filed a petition in 3rd District Court claiming cohabitant abuse by a woman, according to court records. The petition was denied. The nature of the relationship between him and the woman is unclear.