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PROVO CANYON — A man allegedly making death threats and showing aggression toward other campers in Provo Canyon was put under citizen's arrest Saturday morning.
Campers say a shirtless 31-year old Daniel Mortensen, of Santaquin, approached Jett Tumanuvao's tent around 7:30 a.m. at Rock Canyon campground, peered in and began yelling at them.
"Out of nowhere, this guy comes up to our tent and he's yelling at us, he's saying, 'Who are you? Where'd you come from?' " Tumanuvao said.
Mortensen allegedly began making threats, said he had a knife and then claimed he had a gun.
"He's freaking out and he's saying that he's got a gun and that he's going to shoot us," Tumanuvao said.
When Mortensen motioned like he had a gun, Tumanuvao grabbed an axe for protection, the campers said.
"I was fearing for myslef and for my friends," Tumanuvao said.
The campers eventually left with some others and called police. Meantime, Brent Peterson tried to reason with Mortensen, who Peterson said just became more aggressive.
Peterson tackled the man and held him down until police arrived.
"I took his shoe off and took his shoelaces and tied him up like handcuffs and took him out to the road," Peterson said.
Authorities said anyone can make a citizen's arrest if they witness a crime. They can be dangerous and are rare, but they said in this case, it was the right thing to do.
The Utah County Sheriff Office took Mortensen into custody, with some struggle. He did not have a gun, the office said.
Police said Mortensen was just released from jail earlier this week. Mortensen has a criminal history that includes a drug-related offense. He was booked for suspicion of public intoxication, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest Saturday.
No one was sure exactly where Mortensen came from or what he was doing up at the campground.
