SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) A man with a machete pursued and attacked three women in Cottonwood Heights after they rejected his sexual propositions on Sunday, as reported by Cottonwood Heights Police.
Elias Samuel Webber, 35, was apprehended in Salt Lake County on charges including three counts of aggravated assault (third-degree felony), three counts of forcible sexual abuse (second-degree felony), and two counts of threat of violence (class-B misdemeanor), among others.
On October 5, law enforcement responded to a report of an assault near 1700 East 7200 South in Cottonwood Heights. The complainant indicated that Webber, intoxicated, had assaulted her and her friends while pursuing them with a knife.
Upon arrival, an officer discovered three distressed women running from a gravel road. One had “very obvious injuries, and was bleeding,” as court documents reveal. She informed the officer that Webber was outside, near their location, pursuing them.
The officer found Webber in the yard, in his underwear, holding a large machete around 16-18 inches in size.
“I drew my weapon and ordered [Webber] to drop the knife. He complied, and was subsequently arrested,” the officer reported in the affidavit of probable cause. “[Webber] was clearly intoxicated, with a strong odor emanating from him and difficulty maintaining his balance.”
balance.”
During interviews, the three victims revealed that after they refused Webber’s sexual advances, he pushed one of them to the ground and chased all three with the machete.
He allegedly slapped one victim in the head, causing bruising, redness, and bleeding. Webber made verbal threats to the victims, touched them sexually without their consent, and grabbed and threw two of their phones, according to court documents.
Webber failed to identify himself when taken to jail, instead harassing the arresting officer, smirking and asking if the officer was “scared” of him, police said.
Webber has an active warrant from 2022, as well as a protective order issued against him.
He was booked into Salt Lake County Jail on the aforementioned charges. No further information is available at this time.
