- Chadwell Clement Smith, 34, was arrested for allegedly entering an elderly woman's Salt Lake home armed with an ax.
- Smith watched the woman for months before entering her apartment uninvited, police say.
- Police arrested him for investigation of kidnapping and burglary.
SALT LAKE CITY — A man was arrested over the weekend after police say he entered an elderly woman's apartment at random after allegedly "watching" her for months, kidnapping and assaulting her.
Chadwell Clement Smith, 34, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail Saturday for investigation of kidnapping, burglary, possession of a weapon by a restricted person and marijuana possession.
Salt Lake police were called to an apartment in the area of 700 East and 700 South "for an urgent welfare check" after an unknown man entered a woman's residence early that morning and was still there in the afternoon, a police booking affidavit states.
The woman says she woke up about 2 a.m. to let her dog out "and left the door cracked open while she was going to the bathroom." When she came back out, Smith was standing in her apartment, according to the affidavit. He was holding an ax and a knife and then gave the woman "two hugs before asking her to sit down to talk."
The man allegedly began rubbing the elderly woman's legs and feet. The woman told police she was scared and didn't want him touching her.
"The victim said that (Smith) told her that he's been watching her plus loving her for the past six months but never asked her out on a date," according to police.
Smith later used the woman's shower without her permission. During that time, the woman talked to a friend on the phone who called police.
Responding officers found Smith lying on the woman's bed. He allegedly told police that when he saw the woman's door open, "that this was his shot," the affidavit says.
"He told me that his intention was to take her out on a date and to get an Uber up near the University of Utah underneath a tree and was intending on kissing her there and 'feeling out' the situation and informed me that he would want to have sex with the victim prior to a supposed marriage," the arresting officer wrote.
Smith "admitted that the actual place he intended to take her was near some sort of underground construction site near a mall and told me that he lied about actually wanting to take her to the university," the affidavit alleges.
Police noted that Smith "has shown patience in choosing the victim" and if the woman's friend hadn't called to check up on her, "I do believe that (Smith) would potentially have escalated the situation should we not have responded to the residence and prevented further criminal acts from occurring."
