Police in Roy are trying to determine how a vehicle crashed into an unoccupied building Friday afternoon. Photo credit: Nick Wyatt, KSL NewsRadio.
ROY — A man accused in the attempted kidnapping of a child last week now faces formal charges in the incident near a Roy gas station.
Prosecutors officially charged Richard Rodney Palmer, 44, with felony child kidnapping and felony attempted child rape in the 2nd District Court of Weber County.
Police say Palmer tried to abduct the 10-year-old girl near a Roy gas station around 4400 South and 1900 West on Friday night. Detectives say the girl was riding her bike home after getting some treats from the gas station, when police said Palmer intercepted her. The girl told investigators she tried to avoid Palmer, but he eventually grabbed her around the throat.
Fortunately, the girl yelled for help. Police said it might have saved her life.
“She fought and screamed, and the male ran away, and she was able to get away,” said Josh Taylor, a Roy police detective. “Everything worked out really well this time.”
The girl quickly rode her bike home, told her mother, and her mother called police.
After police responded, they requested security footage from the gas station. A Roy police sergeant happened to recognize Palmer in the security video from previous interactions with him. Detectives were able to track Palmer down and make the arrest at his home.
“I think it’s great that our officers were able to get all the information as quickly as they were, and we were able to make that arrest,” Taylor said.
Arrest records showed Palmer admitted to trying to abduct the girl. He told investigators he intended to take the 10-year-old to a nearby abandoned home to rape her.
Palmer was convicted of unlawful sexual activity with a minor in 2007, according to court records. He was convicted of the same crime in 1998.