California man charged with kidnapping in Utah

California man charged with kidnapping in Utah

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TOOELE — A California man accused of taking a woman against her will for several days across several states has been arrested in Utah.

Rodney Avery Laws, 59, of Stockton, California, was charged Thursday in Tooele County’s 3rd District Court with kidnapping, a second-degree felony.

A woman, who was married to Laws, said there was a domestic violence incident in California that led her to seek a protective order, according to a police affidavit filed in Utah.

But while authorities were attempting to serve the protective order, Laws showed up at the woman’s house and demanded she get into his car, the affidavit states. That was on Nov. 29.

Once in the car, “Mr. Laws kept driving and would not allow her to get out,” police wrote.

The couple drove through Sacramento, then Nevada, and eventually ended up in Tooele County.

In Lakepoint, Laws stopped at a gas station due to car troubles. The woman said there were multiple Utah Highway Patrol troopers there, but “Laws would not allow her out of the vehicle without him,” according to the affidavit. “The victim said Mr. Laws never allowed her to get help.”

On Wednesday, the woman was able to call authorities in Stockton who then contacted police in Tooele. Investigators were able to “ping” the woman’s phone and found the couple in the parking lot of Wal-Mart, 99 W. 1280 North, where Laws was taken into custody.

The woman claimed Laws also did not allow her to take her medication during that time. The affidavit did not disclose what the medication was for.

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Pat Reavy is a longtime police and courts reporter. He joined the KSL.com team in 2021, after many years of reporting at the Deseret News and KSL NewsRadio before that.

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