Man sentenced to prison after assaulting, threatening multiple people with knife in Provo

PROVO — A man who admitted to assaulting others with a pocketknife outside of the Travelers Inn will be spending time in prison.

Esston Omar Al-Uqdah, 32, was sentenced on Aug. 28 to one to 15 years in prison for aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury, a second-degree felony, and three terms of zero to five years in prison for two counts of aggravated assault and retaliation against a witness, third-degree felonies.

Fourth District Judge Thomas Low ordered the prison terms to run concurrently and recommended credit for the roughly eight months he has already served in jail on the charges.

Surveillance footage shows Al-Uqdah was in a verbal altercation with a man, and he brandished the knife and stabbed the man multiple times, according to charging documents, before striking the man and knocking the man out and then continuing to hit him.

Charging documents said a woman tried to intervene, and Al-Uqdah threatened to kill her with his knife and then swung it at her, cutting her wrist.

He reportedly then held his knife to the throat of a third person, and a fourth person who approached he knocked out with a punch and then stomped on that person's head.

Charges said all four individuals who were attacked were in stable condition but were treated at the hospital.

Deputy Utah County attorney Brian Miller said one of the victims is still recovering from the injuries. He said Al-Uqdah is a danger to society and has a history of violence spanning multiple Western states. He said the community is safer with him behind bars.

Al-Uqdah pleaded guilty to the charges on July 15 as part of a plea deal that dismissed additional counts of aggravated assault causing serious injury and aggravated assault.

When he was arrested, he did not have a Utah address. His last known address was in Arizona, and he had a California warrant out for his arrest.

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