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SALT LAKE CITY — A woman was arrested Thursday and accused of holding a boy against his will on a TRAX train and then threatening to kill two passengers who tried to help.
Jessica Brown Moore, 35, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of child kidnapping, two counts of aggravated assault, failing to stop at the command of law enforcement and interfering with an arresting officer.
Utah Transit Authority police responded Thursday just before 10 p.m. to a report of a woman with a knife on a TRAX train. Two people said they had boarded the train at the Central Pointe platform on 2100 South when they saw Moore sitting next to a 13-year-old boy.
"The young guy was obviously uncomfortable with her sitting by him," the witness told police, while adding the boy's "body language was of fear and anxiety."
"The victims stated the female was 'hugging and holding the minor and she wouldn't let him go,'" according to a police booking affidavit.
The two passengers invited the boy to sit with them "as they were concerned with his welfare," the affidavit states. But the invitation upset Moore, who "began swearing and threatening them with bodily harm" and making statements such as, "I will … kill you!"
The woman then asked if "anyone had a knife," and was handed a knife by an unidentified person. Once she had the knife, she again approached the two passengers and threatened to kill them, the affidavit alleges.
"She then threw the knife at the ceiling and it flew towards the operator's compartment," the arrest report says.
Police intercepted the train at the West Valley Central platform.
"The suspect attempted to run away from the initial officer who had contacted her, and resisted his attempts to place her in handcuffs," according to the affidavit.
Officers reviewed surveillance video and determined the boy got onto the train at 900 W. North Temple. He then came into contact with Moore. Police noted that when they talked to the boy, he "was extremely frightened, and did not feel like he was able to get off at his stop." After the boy was returned home by police, he said to family members, "The lady told me she would kill me," the affidavit states.
