HURRICANE, Utah — Police in Hurricane arrested a man on a child kidnapping charge after he was found with two juvenile girls at a local hotel.
Theral Hammon was taken into custody Thursday after Hurricane officers responded to a call of an adult male in a suspicious vehicle attempting to lure young girls into the car.
Officers later located the car in the parking lot of the Super 8 motel and found two girls, a 12-year-old and 13-year-old, inside a room. Hammon was located inside the car in the parking lot where he told police that he had picked up the 13-year-old from her grandmother's home in Colorado City, Arizona.
Police said Hammon left with the juvenile girl without permission from her guardian, who had told the girl not to leave.
During an interview with police, the 12-year-old girl said that Hammon and the other girl met met at a friend's house in Hurricane. The 12-year-old said adults told the girls not to get in the car with Hammon, but left with him anyway.
The 13-year-old, who is considered a runaway from Arizona, said Hammon had tried to get the girls to smoke methamphetamine and marijuana with him. She also claimed he had "tried to force himself onto her by taking his hand and reaching in between her legs," the police report states.
Hammon was arrested for child kidnapping because he had taken the 13-year-old without permission of her guardian. He also faces two charges of harboring a runaway and multiple drug charges.
