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Update: Man arrested for holding Summit County woman captive for three days

Suspect charged with felony aggravated kidnapping and assault

Sheriff Justin Martinez addresses the media during a press conference about the kidnapping incident Wednesday, July 5, at the Sheriffs Office.
(Angelique McNaughton/Park Record)

A Summit County man was arrested at his home in the Kimball Junction area early Monday morning for multiple felonies, including aggravated kidnapping and assault, after he held a woman captive and repeatedly beat her for three days.

Jason R. Stone, age 47, was booked into the Summit County Jail on July 3 after the victim escaped his home and contacted law enforcement officials from a nearby business.

Stone and the 45-year-old victim, who were reportedly engaged in an on-and-off relationship since February, left for a camping trip somewhere near the Dinosaur National Monument close to the Utah-Colorado border on Thursday, June 29, according to Summit County Sheriff Justin Martinez.

“Somewhere along the way, it turned from a voluntary camping trip to her being held against her will,” Martinez said. “Whatever triggered him, he began physically abusing her and she was the victim of multiple assaults.”

The victim contacted her daughter via text message claiming she feared for her life, even making the statement “I believe he is going to kill me,” Martinez said. The daughter reached out to the Sheriff’s Office Sunday afternoon and contact was made with authorities in Uintah County, he said.

“Her phone was destroyed after she sent that text, but we did put out an attempt to locate the vehicle,” Martinez said. “But, at that point, we believe they were on the move and on their way back to Summit County.”

Deputies attempted to perform a welfare check at Stone’s home in the Kimball Junction area, however, the man and woman were nowhere to be found.

The victim was transported back to the suspect’s home Sunday evening, bound with duct tape in a blanket, and barricaded in a second-story room where the attacks continued, Martinez said.

“During the early hours of Monday morning, she broke the window and escaped down the two stories, basically sliding and jumping down before running to a local business, which is when we made the first contact with her,” Martinez said. “She was severely battered and bruised. I believe she suffered multiple facial fractures.”

After a search warrant was granted, Stone was taken into custody in his garage without incident. Martinez said evidence collected at the scene, including the duct tape and items used to bind her, were consistent with the statements she provided to deputies.

Stone was booked into the Summit County Jail on four felony charges including, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, witness tampering and possession of a stolen vehicle. He is being held on $100,000 cash-only bail.

The couple had a brief history of contact with law enforcement officials. In April, deputies with the Sheriff’s Office responded to a domestic violence incident at Stone’s residence after the victim claimed he became upset over text messages she had received. According to a report, during the argument, Stone threw her onto the bed and hit her in the face, causing swelling and discoloration to multiple areas of her face.

Martinez said the charge of witness tampering stemmed from Stone’s attempts to get the victim to sign an affidavit claiming he did not assault her during the April incident. That case is still under judgement.

In May, a civil stalking injunction was filed in Summit County’s 3rd District Court against the victim by Stone. However, Judge Kara Pettit denied that request because it appeared the “respondent is simply trying to retrieve her personal property from the petitioner’s premises.” Martinez said he was unaware of that request.

“We got a very bad person off the streets and he will no longer be victimizing people. The victim suffered a harrowing experience at the hands of an abuser and still had the capability to escape,” Martinez said. “I commend her for having the willpower to get away from this abuser.”

Summit County

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