Man stabbed by hitchhiking woman at Spanish Fork Canyon rest stop, deputies say
Sep 25, 2023, 7:14 PM | Updated: 10:33 pm
SPANISH FORK — Deputies arrested a woman Monday after they said she hitchhiked from Colorado before stabbing the assisting driver in the neck at a rest stop while claiming the man intended to “eat” her.
According to Utah County Sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Cannon, 32-year-old Linda Rose Harman hitched a ride from the man near Fruita, Colo., and gave him an address in Salt Lake City.
Cannon said the man was planning to go geode hunting near Dugway in Tooele County and so he drove the woman nearly 200 miles to Spanish Fork Canyon on the way to the Salt Lake City location.
The two had even made stops in Green River and Price for the woman to smoke, Cannon said.
At the Tie Fork rest area, however, Cannon said the woman turned violent.
“She used a sculpting-type knife and stabbed him in the neck,” Cannon said. “This was totally unprovoked, totally unexpected.”
When deputies arrived on scene, investigators said Harman told them she wanted to go to Grand Junction and the man had kidnapped her and had threatened to kill her if she tried to run away.
“She told us that he intended to eat her,” Cannon said. “That’s an unusual claim to make without any evidence to support that.”
Cannon said it appeared the woman was dealing with mental health challenges and the driver was simply a victim in the case.
“She said that she wanted to go back to Grand Junction and that’s where she thought she was going and she thought he would turn around at any time, but she never said anything to him about wanting to go back to Grand Junction and in fact did give him an address that was totally in the opposite direction.”
Deputies booked Harman into the Utah County Jail on suspicion of aggravated assault.
Cannon said the driver was in good condition following the stabbing.
He urged people if they choose to help strangers to be careful and consider what could possibly happen.
“To say it was unusual would be an understatement,” Cannon said. “It could have ended up being much worse.”
