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SPANISH FORK — Police arrested a woman hitchhiking from Colorado who they say stabbed her driver at a rest stop in Spanish Fork on Monday.
Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon said the woman was hitchhiking near Fruita, Colorado, and claimed she was trying to get to Grand Junction, but gave the driver an address for a restaurant in Salt Lake City, said Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon.
Those are opposite directions and Cannon said it was not clear why they continued in the direction of Salt Lake City. The man was headed to Tooele County so he gave her a ride and they drove for three hours, stopping for smoke breaks in Green River and Price.
The last stop was at the Tie Fork rest area in Spanish Fork Canyon. While at the rest stop Monday afternoon, the woman stabbed the man in the neck behind the ear with a sculpting knife, the sergeant said.
When officers arrived, the woman claimed that she had been kidnapped by the driver, the driver wanted to eat her and the driver would kill her if she ran.
"She told us that he intended to eat her," Cannon said. "That's an unusual claim to make without any evidence to support that."
Investigators say there is no evidence to suggest the man planned to eat the woman or kill her if she ran.
Cannon said the man was injured but was in good condition.
The woman was arrested and booked into the Utah County Jail on suspicion of aggravated assault. Cannon said she may have a mental health issue.
