Man kidnapped, force-fed beer

A possible case of mistaken identity got a man kidnapped, force-fed beer and dumped on the side of the road, police said.

A passer-by found the man walking across Legacy Highway near Centerville about 9 a.m. Saturday. His hands were tied with hanger wire. He said he'd been kidnapped three hours earlier, said Salt Lake Police Sgt. Dennis McGowan.

He told police he had parked his car about 6 a.m. at his home near 1700 West and 400 North when two Spanish-speaking men dragged him out into the driveway. Once he'd been thrown inside their red pickup truck, he said they pulled a bag over his head, tied his hands and feet with coat hanger wire and put a gun to his stomach.

"They told him this was their area and that he can't sell drugs here," McGowan said. The man fervently denied that he has or sells any drugs.

The kidnappers force-fed him two cans of beer before kicking him out of the truck and driving off, very likely to pass him off as a drunk whose kidnapping story would be written off as nonsense, McGowan said. He had managed to kick off his leg constraints and cross the highway looking for help when the passer-by found him.

Officers found two empty beer cans and mangled wire hanger by the side of the highway that seem to confirm the man's account, McGowan said.

The man, whose name and age were not available, was not seriously injured.

— Michael R. McFall