WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, June 23, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — West Valley City police have released the name of a man arrested for kidnapping after he allegedly lured his girlfriend into a car, saying they were making a quick run to a store, then informed her they were driving back to California.
The suspect is Jhony Efrain Sanchez Macha, 28, a citizen of Peru and a resident of California, where his victim had lived before she moved to Utah.
Police were alerted to the case at about 6:28 p.m. Saturday, WVCPD Lt. Steve Burke told Gephardt Daily.
The woman being held was able to make a call.
“The victim called family hysterically, stating that he was driving her back to California, and she did not want to go, and he wouldn’t let her out of the vehicle,” Burke said. “We got a call from the victim’s sister-in-law that she was being taken to California by her boyfriend against her will.
“We sent out an attempt to locate between here and California, and the Utah Highway Patrol found the vehicle on I-15 and conducted a high-risk stop, and detailed the male subject, and then we went down and took him into custody, and detectives interviewed him, and he told them he was going to take her back to California.”
Sanchez Macha pulled over and did not resist arrest, Burke said. The woman he reportedly kidnapped, who is in her early 20s, Burke said, had no injuries. The stop was made at 7:34 p.m., Burke said.
The arrest caused significant traffic delays on Interstate 15 in the Lehi area.
“He was found in possession of a bunch of forged documents,” Burke said of Sanchez Macha.
Arrest documents say police found three permanent resident cards and three Social Security cards, all of which were determined to be fraudulent.
Sanchez Macha was arrested for investigation of second-degree felony kidnapping and six counts of third-degree felony possession of forgery writing.
Gephardt Daily will have additional information as details are released.
