Utah man arrested after police say he held Latter-day Saint missionaries at gunpoint

Stock image | Photo by Chalabala/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah  A man was booked into jail and faces several charges after police said he held six missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at gunpoint in West Valley City.

Police said the men were at the Windsor Estates mobile home park at 8 p.m. Thursday for an appointment with 46-year-old Paul Marquez.

A statement of probable cause indicates the missionaries were there for a religious discussion but the man showed them his firearm.

“The victims explained they were trying to leave after the first 10 minutes of being in the residence,” the document states. “[Marquez] made several threats that they could not leave and waved the firearm at the 6 victims keeping them at the residence for over an hour.”

The missionaries told police the man was drinking and waving the firearm at them, and they said he would point the gun at people if he “did not like what they were talking about.”

A statement from Daniel Woodruff, spokesman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, indicated the six missionaries will not be identified.

“We are grateful these six missionaries were able to calmly and appropriately deal with this situation and leave without injury. The Church is working to provide any needed support and counseling to them as they recover from this alarming ordeal.”

Merritt said responding officers found three firearms in Marquez’s home.

Read the full story here: Fox13Now.com

Written by ASHTON EDWARDS, SCOTT MCKANE and REBECCA GREEN

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright 2017, KSTU. A Tribune broadcasting station

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