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(KSL TV) Police have in custody a man they say kidnapped an eight-year-old boy yesterday from a West Valley City restaurant. The boy was safely returned to his parents.
Police say Jose Perez is an acquaintance of the family and had recently gotten into a fight with the boy's mother in Layton.
He then left and came to a West Valley strip mall where he contacted her for money for some bills that needed to be paid. She showed up and was handing him the money, when police say he grabbed her son. He threw the boy into a car and headed for Layton, but he didn't get far before police stopped his car and arrested him.
He says he wanted to make sure she didn't call the police over their prior fight.
Lt. Jim Crowley/ West Valley Police Dept.: "WHAT HE WANTED IS SOME WAY TO PROTECT HIMSELF. BY HOLDING THE KID, HE THOUGHT SHE WOULD NOT CALL THE POLICE. HE THREATENED HER, 'DON'T CALL THE POLICE. I'VE GOT THE KID,' AND ALSO THREATED BODILY HARM NOT ONLY TO HER BUT TO HER BROTHER, WHO WAS IN THE CAR."
Police have not announced any charges agaisnt Perez yet.
