Man accused of assaulting woman after positive COVID-19 test

PROVO, Utah (AP) - Four Utah County Sheriff's deputies are in isolation after arresting a man who is accused of assaulting a woman after he reportedly tested positive for the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Matthew Jarel Harding, 31, also threatened police officers with a small kitchen knife after they arrived at the scene in Eagle Mountain on Friday, authorities said. He screamed "Kill me now," in an apparent effort to prompt officers to fire their weapons, the Daily Herald reported.

A deputy deployed his Taser and Harding fell to the ground, where he was arrested. Harding had put a knife to the women's throat while she was driving and stabbed the dashboard before she was able to stop the car and run into a nearby house to escape him as he struck her.

She told deputies Harding had allegedly been drinking after receiving a positive COVID-19 diagnosis, police said.

Harding is being held at the Utah County Jail in isolation and the four deputies involved in the arrest are in self isolation. They will be tested for potential exposure to COVID-19.

No attorney has been listed for Harding in court records.