Police briefs

Woman injured in W.V. apartment fire

WEST VALLEY CITY — A fire that broke out in an apartment building late Friday injured a woman and caused about $40,000 in damage, officials said.

Just after 9 p.m. neighbors at Boulder Pine Apartment complex, 4040 S. 1535 West, called 911 when they saw smoke and flames from an apartment.

The 26-year-old woman had apparently escaped her burning top-level unit during the initial stages of the fire, but witnesses told West Valley Assistant Fire Chief Kris Romijn the woman stepped back inside "for some reason," Romijn said.

A West Valley police officer, who arrived before firefighters, and a neighbor went in after the woman and carried her out, Romijn said. "While in there, she sustained second-degree burns and had some blisters on her shoulders." She was taken to a local hospital and was in stable condition.

West Valley Fire, Unified Fire Authority and South Salt Lake responded to the blaze, which was extinguished within minutes of their arrival.

— Jacob Hancock

Man charged with kidnapping, robbery

A Salt Lake man was charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery after police say he hijacked a man's car and held the owner captive for four or five hours, according to charges filed Monday in 3rd District Court.

According to the charges, Jeffrey Johnson, 25, and two unknown individuals jumped into a vehicle stopped at a red light on North Temple and refused to let the owner leave. They drove the car around for four or five hours, finally stopping at the Chateau Motel and Trailer Court, 1999 W. North Temple, where they covered the victim beneath a blanket and beat him with a belt buckle, the charges said.

Before letting him free, Johnson stole the man's wallet, which contained $30, a library card and his Social Security card, the charges said.

— Michael Gonda

Nurse arrested in sex-drugs exchange

PROVO — A registered nurse has been arrested after police believe he illegally obtained drugs for a suicidal patient in exchange for sexual favors.

The patient, a 27-year-old woman in the psychiatric ward at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, flirted with the nurse and hinted at the exchange "but grew afraid of the arrestee," according to a police affidavit filed in 4th District Court.