Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A man was arrested Wednesday after he assaulted a woman at a Walmart Monday and then escaped from police custody, according to a jail report.
Police responded to a report of an assault at a Walmart, 136 W. state Road 73, on Monday. A woman told police she arrived at the store with friends when Noah Randall Cook, 19, of Saratoga Springs, showed up and “surprised her from behind.” She told authorities that he grabbed her and wouldn’t let go before he took her phone when she tried to call for help, according to the report.
“While they were struggling over the phone, Noah pulled the victim to the ground and her shirt came off, exposing her breasts inside Walmart,” the report stated. “The victim was able to hide in the women's restroom for several minutes until she felt she was safe to come out, then she went and met back up with her friends.”
The woman told police she later found Cook waiting for her in the business’s parking lot. He was taken into custody by Saratoga Springs police and was transported to the police department. Cook was placed in a chair and an officer put a shackle on Cook’s left arm above his handcuffs after Cook allegedly was able to move the handcuffs from behind his back to in front of him during the drive to the police department, the report stated.
The officer left the room and returned a few minutes later to find Cook gone. He had slipped his left wrist through the handcuff, slipped the shackle off his arm and then fled on foot with the handcuffs still on his right wrist, the report stated. Officers weren’t able to locate Cook until Wednesday where he was re-arrested near the woman’s residence.
Cook was booked into Utah County Jail on suspicion of forcible sexual abuse, assault, disorderly conduct, damage or interruption of a communication device, theft and escape from official custody in relation to the incident, according to jail documents.
The report stated Cook had a relationship with the woman who reported the assault.
Court records show Cook pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of unlawful sexual activity with a minor in June 2017. He also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of possessing a dangerous weapon on school premises and attempted aggravated assault in January 2017. He was also arrested on a suspicion of retail theft in February.
