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TOOELE — A wild ride in January between Tooele and Wendover has resulted in a kidnapping charge for a South Jordan woman.
Amanda Janelle Hardy, 31, was charged Wednesday in Tooele's 3rd District Court with kidnapping, a second-degree felony, wrongful appropriation, a third-degree felony, and reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor.
The odd series of events happened Jan. 14 when Hardy and two others went on a road trip, according to charging documents. The two others would later tell police that Hardy "insisted on being the driver on the way out to Wendover to gamble," the charges state.
But along the way, Hardy "began to act paranoid. She started to accuse the victims of wanting to kill her. She started to drive erratically and reached speeds of 130 mph and she would not keep her eyes on the road," according to charging documents.
The other two passengers insisted to Hardy that she pull over and told her she no longer had permission to drive the car, which belonged to one of the passengers, the charges state. Hardy refused.
"The defendant passed all the Wendover exits and crossed the Utah/Nevada border. The registered owner, believing that the defendant may kill her and the other passenger, jumped on the defendant's lap, took the wheel, and slammed on the brakes so that the victims could exit the vehicle," according to charging documents.
Hardy was stopped by the Utah Highway Patrol driving east in the westbound lanes of I-80, the charges state.
