WEST VALLEY CITY — A pair of robberies, including a bizarre kidnapping, kept police here busy early Saturday.

About 4:30 a.m., a man told police he had pulled up to a Maverik convenience store, 4692 S. 4800 West, to meet a friend, when two other men approached him, said West Valley Police Lt. Bill Merritt.

The men asked the victim if he had any drugs to sell, Merritt said. When the victim told them he did not, they punched him in the face and forced him into the back seat of his own car. They drove the man to an area he thought was downtown Salt Lake but told him to keep his eyes shut or they would punch him in the face again, Merritt said.

When the group arrived at an unknown location, the men used the victim's money to buy drugs, Merritt said. They then took him back to the area of 4800 West and 3500 South, kicked the man out his car and took off.

Detectives were called about 5:30 a.m. and found the victim with bruises on his face. Merritt said detectives would be reviewing the surveillance video from the Maverik to check for possible evidence. The car remained missing as of early Saturday afternoon.

Saturday evening, in an unrelated incident, employees of an Arctic Circle, 4073 W. 4100 South, had just closed for the evening and were walking in the parking lot with the night deposit bag when they were approached by a man with a knife, Merritt said.

The manager complied with the demand from the knife-wielding man to drop the bag, which the robber took and then ran off, Merritt said.

Anyone with information on either robbery can call police at 801-840-4000.

— Pat Reavy