Three people charged in Salt Lake City with kidnapping

SALT LAKE CITY — Officers responding to an overdose call instead found a bleeding man breaking out the back window of a van to escape people who allegedly kidnapped him.

According to charges filed in 3rd District Court Thursday, the victim had picked up a 36-year-old man and 42-year-old woman in Salt Lake City on March 4 to give them a ride. The duo then turned on him, punching him repeatedly and taking his car keys, charges state.

The pair then went to pick up a 49-year-old man, who also began punching the victim until the group arrived at a house near 4250 S. Holladay Road, charges state. Inside the house, the victim was allegedly taken to a back room and threatened several times with a knife as he went in and out of consciousness.

Early the following morning, the men and the woman dragged the victim out to a van when they heard police were on the way, charges state.

Responding police officers apprehended the woman and the men. Officers found cocaine, kitchen knives, cash and a crack pipe in the pockets of those arrested.

According to the probable cause statement of the affidavit, one of the men said he broke his hand hitting the victim.

The victim had broken ribs, a nasal fracture and a fracture to his cheek bone.

Two of the people arrested, 36-year-old Jeffrey Evan Parkinson of West Jordan and Anthony Robert Steen, 49, were charged with aggravated assault and aggravated robbery, both first-degree felonies. Parkinson also was charged with aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony; false personal information to a peace officer, a class A misdemeanor; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor.

Steen received an additional first-degree felony kidnapping charge from the incident.

Mary Malone, 42, was charged with first-degree felony kidnapping and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; aggravated robbery, a second-degree felony; possession or use of a controlled substance, a third-degree felony; and giving false personal information to a peace officer, a class C misdemeanor.

All three are convicted felons, having pleaded guilty in previous instances to possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

e-mail: lgroves@desnews.com