This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Shawn Patrick Crawford's domestic violence beef just got a lot worse: now he's behind bars for allegedly kidnapping, assaulting and threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend if she testified against him.
Crawford, 34, was arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail Monday after the woman, 45, finally escaped from her Millcreek apartment, where she had allegedly been held, choked and beaten over the weekend.
Last Friday afternoon, according to a probable cause statement, Crawford forced his way into the woman's home and a prolonged series of threats and assaults — including one where she purportedly was strangled into unconsciousness — allegedly began.
The victim finally was able to escape, police say, when she convinced Crawford to walk with her to a nearby convenience store to buy cigarettes. Before they left, she partially opened a sliding glass door in her apartment without Crawford's knowledge — and then broke away from him during the excursion and ran back to the apartment.
"[She] was able to get inside her residence and lock the door just as [Crawford] reached the door. [The victim] locked [Crawford] out and called [911]," Unified Police Officer Mandi Baird wrote.
Crawford fled, but was later located at his grandmother's house and arrested without further incident. He denied assaulting his ex-girlfriend, police said, though he did admit chasing her back to the apartment, the statement claims.
Police say Crawford wanted to keep the woman from testifying against him in a then-scheduled Tuesday preliminary hearing on a third-degree felony charge that he had violated a jail release agreement relating to an Aug. 8 domestic violence complaint involving his then-girlfriend. Specifically, Crawford had — in violation of the agreement to stay away from the Millcreek home — had come back on Aug. 19.
During the woman's weekend of alleged captivity, Crawford "told [the victim] if she went to court he would kill her and her grandson [who lives in Ogden]," the statement contends.
Court records show that Crawford's past criminal history also includes guilty pleas for attempted forgery, theft by deception, theft and burglary, as well as misdemeanor traffic violations.
After his arrest on Monday, he was booked on suspicion of second-degree felony kidnapping and third-degree counts of aggravated assault and witness tampering.
He remained behind bars Wednesday in lieu of $75,000 bail.
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