Three men arrested for strong-arming couple for money, kidnapped woman

KEARNS, Utah — Three men are accused of coercing and deceiving a couple, owing them drug money,

and kidnapping the woman to get more money.

On Saturday, Daniel Gray Roberts, 36, Dwight Alan Messick, 37, and Jerod Lee Bowers, 43, were each booked in the Salt Lake County Jail for one felony count of aggravated robbery and one felony count of aggravated kidnapping, according to affidavits.

A man and a woman were dropped off by a friend in Kearns late Saturday night when the three suspects approached them, demanding drugs and money.

According to the affidavits, the victims told the suspects they didn’t know what they were talking about and asked them to leave them alone.

The three suspects kept pressuring the couple, claiming the victims stole 500 grams of heroin from another drug dealer and they were sent to recover it.

“The [suspects] told them if they couldn’t recover the drugs, then they needed to be paid what their employer would have paid,” according to the affidavits.

The suspects threatened the couple, telling them one of them would have to leave with them or the suspects would “smoke them.”

The woman offered the suspects the title to her 2020 Jeep and $380 in cash, according to the affidavits. The suspects declined the title but took the cash, demanding that one of them go with them.

The woman believed her partner wouldn’t go with them, and to avoid further confrontation, she agreed to go, and the suspects drove away with her. The man called police, reporting that the woman was kidnapped.

According to the affidavits, police shortly found the suspects and victim entering Bangerter Highway from 5400 S., pulled them over, and placed the suspects into custody without further incident. While interviewing Bowers, police found the $380 in his pocket.

The male victim told police he believed they were targeted because he recently had a large amount of cash after a recent sale.

Before the kidnapping, witnesses told police they overheard the suspects saying, “[the victims] had robbed a Mexican and [they] wanted to go take the stuff from them,” according to the affidavits.

The suspects planned to tell the victims they had placed a tracker on their car and were sent to recover the drugs from them by their boss.