Source: Office of United States Attorneys
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – A federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging a felon with a violent crime after he allegedly threatened a victim with a weapon and forced the victim to drive him out of a contained area where police were actively searching for him for a separate incident.
Joseph Anthony Kingston, 27, of West Valley City, Utah, was charged by complaint on May 1, 2025.
According to court documents, on April 30, 2025, West Valley City Police Department officers responded to a call for service requesting assistance to get Kingston to leave a West Valley City residence. During a records check, officers discovered that Kingston had an active felony warrant and was restricted from possessing a weapon. Upon officers’ arrival at the residence, they witnessed Kingston fleeing on foot. A police containment was established for several blocks, which was searched by drone and K9 officers, but Kingston was not located, and the containment area was shut down.
As alleged in the complaint, approximately 20 minutes later, West Valley City Police Department receive a call from an adult male who stated he was the victim of carjacking. The victim was completing a landscaping job in the area of the police containment, and upon returning to his work truck, he found a male, later identified as Kingston, laying on the floorboard of the victim’s truck. According to the victim, Kingston produced a knife and told him to “drive” and “go,” to get Kingston out of the contained area. The victim reported that Kingston remained on the floorboards until they passed the police containment. The victim drove Kingston to a different area before Kingston then proceeded to steal medical supplies and food from the truck before leaving. Subsequently, Kingston was located that same day by West Valley City Police Officers and taken into custody following a foot pursuit. At the time of his arrest, he was allegedly in possession of medical supplies from the stolen work truck.
Kingston is charged with carjacking. His initial appearance on the indictment is May 29, 2025, at 9:30 a.m. in courtroom 8.4 before a U.S. Magistrate Judge at the Orrin G. Hatch United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City.
Acting United States Attorney Felice John Viti for the District of Utah made the announcement.
The case is being investigated by an FBI Task Force Officer with the West Valley City Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorney Carlos A. Esqueda of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah is prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.