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OGDEN — Police arrested an Ogden man Monday after they say he chased his girlfriend into a neighbor's apartment while armed with a kitchen knife, assaulted the woman and threatened to kill the neighbor before dragging the woman by her mouth back into their shared apartment.
Jeremiah John Erickson, 37, was charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated burglary, first-degree felonies; plus two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of tampering with a witness and possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, third-degree felonies.
Police responded to a disturbance call and arrested Erickson after they say he tried to escape with a woman out the back of his apartment.
The woman told police they had been drinking when Erickson grew upset and grabbed her by the face, "fish-hooking" her in the mouth, and tried to drag her into their apartment, according to the charging documents. Police say the woman tried to escape by running up the stairs and calling for help.
A neighbor heard screaming coming from apartments below, before the woman burst into the apartment, telling him to call the police, according to a police booking affidavit. Erickson, right behind the woman, entered the neighbor's apartment and began throwing the woman against furniture and "whatever was in her way," as the neighbor watched, police say.
The neighbor told police Erickson began dragging the woman out of his apartment against her will, then threatened the neighbor with a steak knife, saying, if "he said anything to anyone he would end up dead," the charges state.
Erickson forced the woman back into their apartment and said if she did anything that got him sent back to prison, he would rejoin a gang and have her killed, according to the charges.
When police arrived, they found the woman with visible injuries "from being grabbed, dragged, pushed and punched by" Erickson, the charges state, adding injuries to Erickson support her claim that she feared Erickson "was going to kill her so she was actively doing all she could ... to get away from him."
Erickson, who was on parole at the time of the incident, denied he had been physical with the woman. He was booked into the Weber County Jail without bail. An initial court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.
