Utah man charged after he argued with his wife and threw her in the Provo River

A Pleasant Grove man, who is accused of throwing his wife in the Provo River after the two argued, is facing a felony kidnapping charge.

According to police, the suspect said he grabbed his wife and forced her into the water “after she refused to do what he asked.”

The 61-year-old man and his wife were at the Provo River Resort just below Deer Creek Dam on Sunday when they began arguing over “dinner arrangements,” the woman told police. The man “became angry and threatened to drown her in the river,” and — according to witnesses — “he dragged the victim against her will to the riverbank and forced her in.”

Police wrote in a probable cause statement that witnesses said that when they tried to help the woman get out of the water, the man “yelled at them to stay away.” The woman had bruises on her arms that she told police resulted from her husband “dragging her to the river.”

The suspect has been charged in 4th District Court with aggravated kidnapping/unlawful detention, a third-degree felony; and domestic violence assault, a class-B misdemeanor. He was booked into the Wasatch County jail, where he is being held without bail.