Police say woman held hostage in Ogden for several days

OGDEN — A man once convicted of holding a woman hostage inside his residence has been arrested in connection with a similar crime.

Ogden police say a woman was held "against her will for several days" in her apartment in the 2500 block of Harrison Boulevard. The woman was able to escape Wednesday and run to a neighbor's house, where she called 911.

When officers arrived, they found that Jonathan Odell, 35, had barricaded himself inside the apartment. He was taken into custody without further incident after brief negotiations, according to Ogden police.

The woman was treated for multiple undisclosed injuries, though they were not life-threatening, police said.

Odell was booked into the Weber County Jail for investigation of attempted homicide, aggravated kidnapping, possession of a weapon by a restricted person, damaging a communication device, and five outstanding warrants.

In 2011, Odell pleaded guilty to an amended charge of attempted kidnapping, reduced from a first-degree to a third-degree felony, according to Utah court records.

According to charging documents, Odell told the victim in the earlier incident that if she answered the door, "bad things would happen." He then brandished a box-cutter and opened it to expose the blade, according to court records.

Ogden police were sent to the house to conduct a welfare check when the woman did not show up for work.

Odell was sentenced to a prison term that was suspended, and ordered to serve a year in jail. He was also placed on probation. On Dec. 10, a warrant was issued for his arrest for violating that probation.

— Pat Reavy

Twitter: DNewsCrimeTeam