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Suspect in alleged sexual assault arrested after 7-hour ordeal

Posted at 10:47 PM, Apr 19, 2014
and last updated 2014-04-20 00:47:47-04

SOUTH SALT LAKE – Police arrested a man after he barricaded himself in an apartment for about 7 hours Saturday, and the man is accused of sexually assaulting a female living nearby.

Police responded to the Wedgewood Willows Apartment complex, 3514 S. 300 East, at about 11:45 a.m. to make a welfare check on a 23-year-old male who had reportedly verbally threatened his girlfriend and her parents.

The man refused to come outside, but police were able to speak with him via phone. While police were at the scene, a woman who lives in another apartment told them the man barricaded in the apartment had sexually assaulted her at knifepoint earlier that morning.

According to a press release from South Salt Lake police, the investigation determined 23-year-old Jeremy Starn had threatened that female with death by a knife, and he allegedly touched her genitalia during and after the threat.

Police officials said the man came out of the residence and was taken into custody after about seven hours.

Starn was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail, where he faces a charge of aggravated sexual assault as a first-degree felony. Formal charges have not been filed, and officials stated the case would be screened by the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office.