Man charged with trying to kidnap a Granger High student

A 21-year-old Taylorsville man has been charged with trying to kidnap a teenager he followed into Granger High School.

According to a probable cause statement, the student told police that on Oct. 9, she and a friend were eating lunch across the street from the school when they were approached by Jonathan Martinez Calata and another man, who asked the girls to go home with them. The girls said they walked away, and the two men followed them. The girls also told police that Calata reached into his backpack and said, “Let’s go,” leading them to believe he had a weapon.

Calata told one of the girls that she could leave, the probable cause statement said, but allegedly added that he had “chosen” the other. He told that girl he had been sent by her father to pick her up.

Other friends of the girls joined them as they walked back to the school, at 3690 S. 3600 West in West Valley City, the girl told police, but Calata told her that she needed to come with him or he would hurt those friends.

According to the probable cause statement, the second man “followed behind them the whole time” and the girl believed “he was preventing them from escaping.” Police have reported no additional arrests.

Calata followed the girls into the school, where he was confronted by a Granite School District police officer who arrested him.

“We applaud the young people that saw a potentially dangerous situation and quickly reached out to friends to help provide safety in numbers,” District Attorney Sim Gill said in a statement. “We appreciate the quick actions of the Granite School District Police officer that helped identify the danger Mr. Calata presented to the students on Granger High School campus.”

When Calata was searched, an officer found four credit cards that did not belong to him, a set of brass knuckles, a bag of pills that “tested positive for amphetamines,” and a vape pen that “field tested positive for THC,” the statement said.

Calata has been charged in 3rd District Court with attempted aggravated kidnapping, a second-degree felony; four counts of unlawful possession of a financial transaction card, third-degree felonies; possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and possession of a controlled substance, Class A misdemeanors; a second, Class B misdemeanor charge of possession of a controlled substance; and trespassing on school property, another Class B misdemeanor.

He is being held without bail in the Salt Lake County jail. His initial court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday, according to court records.