Man accused of holding teen trick-or-treater against his will

Man accused of holding teen trick-or-treater against his will

(Shutterstock)


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

WEST POINT — A resident apparently fed up with Halloween pranks is accused of holding a 14-year-old trick-or-treater against his will.

Davis County sheriff's investigators said the incident happened Halloween night. A group of three or four teenagers rang the doorbell of a West Point resident. When the 37-year-old man opened the door, he found a 14-year-old boy lying on his porch pretending to be dead, said Sheriff's Sgt. Susan Poulsen.

For the homeowner, however, it was apparently "the last straw" in a night of pranks, Poulsen said. He grabbed the teen by the shoulder and led him into his house, locked his door and demanded the boy's phone number, she said.


His reaction was a little over the top. You just can't pull somebody else's child into your home and shut the door behind you.

–Sheriff's Sgt. Susan Poulsen


It wasn't until the boy's friends knocked on the door about 30 seconds to a minute later that the man opened the door and let the boy go. The children ran home to tell their parents what had happened, and the parents called the sheriff's office.

"His reaction was a little over the top," Poulsen said. "You just can't pull somebody else's child into your home and shut the door behind you."

The man was cited for investigation of unlawful detention, a class B misdemeanor, and released.

"The boy didn't do any harm but merely laid down on (the homeowner's) porch, playing a trick," the sheriff's office stated.

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
Pat Reavy

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast