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PROVO — A man was arrested after police say he held his estranged wife against her will at her home and threatened to kill her and their children Thursday morning, according to jail documents.
Matthew Thomas Elton, 35, was arrested and booked into Utah County Jail on suspicion of kidnapping, aggravated assault, three misdemeanor counts of violence in the presence of a child and other misdemeanor charges stemming from the incident.
Elton was arrested after police responded to the woman’s home on a report of a disturbance in progress. Elton had come there to try to get money from the woman’s tax return, according to the jail report.
The report stated that an officer arrived at the home and witnessed Elton push the woman against a wall before trying to hold a door closed as the officer tried to force entry into the home. Elton then ran into a bedroom but was taken into custody without incident.
The woman told officers that Elton “had threatened to kill (her), their children, his brother-in-law and then shoot it out with police,” according to report. The man then ran into a bedroom where a rifle was located.
The woman told officers that Elton had been fighting with her all morning and that Elton began to hit and choke her in front of three children inside the home and prevented her from calling for help. She was also locked in a room and prevented to leave. The woman was eventually able to call police after obtaining her phone that had been taken away from her, the report stated.
Elton and the woman had been separated for three years, the woman told police.
The woman told police “she was afraid that he would kill her and their children using a weapon and that he has used weapons against her in the past,” the report stated.
Court records show that Elton has a history of assault-related arrests.
