Man charged with making terroristic threat to kill friends, police

A Midvale man is facing multiple felony charges for allegedly threatening to slit the throats of two men and later kill police after drinking and becoming belligerent.

Prosecutors on Friday charged the 44-year-old man with one count of second-degree felony threat of terrorism, one count of third-degree felony assault by a prisoner and two misdemeanor counts of assault related to a Dec. 27 incident at his Midvale apartment, in the 300 block of Wasatch Street.

If convicted on the terrorism charge alone, the man faces a prison term of up to 15 years.

Documents filed in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court say the man's friends locked themselves in a bedroom and called police because the man had threatened to "get a knife and slit their throats" and then disappeared into a bedroom to retrieve a knife. Prior to making the threat, the man had been throwing items around the apartment, court papers say.

Police later found a large butcher knife inside a brown paper bag next to the man's bedroom door, court papers say.

As the man was taken to jail by Midvale police, he also threatened to "get my gun, set you cops up and kill a few of you" after his release, and also threatened to "go into the schools" and kill people, the document states.

Court records do not indicate whether the man has an attorney. An initial appearance is set for Jan. 24.

-jdobner@sltrib.com