OGDEN -- Two men were charged Thursday with abusing a man and living in his apartment for two weeks against his will.
Preston Harper, 21, and Thomas Rudolph, 20, were charged in 2nd District Court with abusing an elderly person, a third-degree felony.
Harper was also arrested on suspicion of robbery, unlawful detention and an outstanding drug-related warrant. Rudolph also was arrested for unlawful detention, interfering with arrest and a parole-related warrant.
They each had felony warrants for their arrest and decided to hide out at the man's apartment without his permission, even after he told them to leave, Police Lt. Shawn Hamblin said.
Police suspect that Rudolph and Harper, about two weeks ago, walked into an apartment in the 2600 block of Adams Avenue where an unidentified man in his 60s lives. The man has known the two younger men for a long time, Hamblin said.
"They took over his home for a couple of weeks, eating all of his food and refusing to go away," he said.
An affidavit filed in 2nd District Court indicates the man relies on a wheelchair, but Hamblin was unable to confirm that.
On Wednesday, the man had a chance to leave his apartment and rode his electric scooter to the Ogden City Code Enforcement office at 2549 Washington Blvd. and called police. At 2:41 p.m., he told police over the phone that there were two wanted men in his apartment. He then rode back to his home.
Police arrived but found that the front door was locked. They called the man, and he said he was inside but being held against his will and needed help, Hamblin said.
Rudolph and Harper told the man to go to his room, lock the door and not say a word, according to a probable cause affidavit for Harper's arrest. Harper also demanded that the man give him the apartment keys he carried around his neck.
"(The victim) said he felt he would be hurt if he did not give Harper the keys," and he obeyed their orders, the affidavit states.
Police eventually obtained another key to the apartment, but one of the suspects was hiding near the door and would relock it when the officers tried to unlock it, Hamblin said.
The officers eventually got in and found the two men inside.
Harper and Rudolph were booked into Weber County Jail.
Hamblin said it was unclear if the man who lived in the apartment had been allowed to leave before Wednesday. He was not injured.
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