ST. GEORGE – A St. George man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of committing multiple burglaries and thefts in St. George and Ivins.
Jeffrey Austin Adams, 29, of St. George, was arrested by the St. George Police Thursday as a result of an investigation into three residential burglaries along Snow Canyon Parkway, St. George Police Sgt. Sam Despain said.
Two of the burglaries occurred in residences next door to each other, according to a probable cause statement. SGPD Detective Terrance Taylor, who wrote the report, noted the suspect had forced his way into the home and taken a number of items that included flat screen televisions and other electronics. He also noted shoe prints in the snow that left distinct patterns. Tire prints were also left in the snow indicating that a car had pulled in from the street and into the garage of one of the homes. The detective took photos of the shoe prints and also measured the space between the tire marks as part of his investigation.
A third residential burglary was reported on Sonoran Drive which was investigated by SGPD Detective Joshua Wilson. An iPhone and iPad were reported stolen from this location, Wilson wrote in the probable cause statement.
“I was able to get on the victim’s computer and logged on to iCloud and hit the ‘find my phone’ app,” Wilson wrote. The missing iPhone responded and pinpointed a residence in the Dixie Downs area of St. George.
Police assembled a team and zeroed in on the iPhone’s location. The homeowner currently had many guests at the home, including Adams.
Adams was made aware of his Miranda rights and was interviewed by Wilson. Taylor arrived on the scene soon after and matched the pattern on Adams’s shoes to the prints he had photographed. Taylor also measured the space between the tires on the car driven by Adams and they matched the measurements take from the prior burglary sites.
Adams admitted to committing the burglaries and was taken into custody. While retrieving stolen items that had been stored in a camper-trailer nearby, police found a firearm believed to be stolen from an area residence, as well as possible methamphetamine-related drug paraphernalia. Adams admitted to the police the paraphernalia was his, according to the probable cause statement written by Wilson.
“The footprints and the phone ultimately led to that arrest,” Despain said.
For the St. George burglaries, Adams has been charged with: four second-degree felonies for burglary, one second-degree and one third-degree felony for theft, one second-degree felony for receiving stolen property, and four misdemeanors related to criminal mischief and drug paraphernalia.
The Santa Clara-Ivins Police Department has also connected Adams with burglaries in the Ivins area, and has charged him with: seven second-degree felonies for burglary, seven second degree felonies for theft, and seven class-A misdemeanors for criminal mischief.
Two second-degree felonies for burglary and theft were issued by the Washington City Police Department Monday afternoon.
Persons charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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Stupid tweaked out, Meth-head burglar.
Rule #1 NEVER steal a smartphone..Too many apps to track it.
Get off the pipe dude, clean up your act, and become somewhat of a decent member of society.
He’s been to rehab and before that was in prison. I’ve known him since he was a kid. Don’t know if he will ever get better.
He’s never been to prison. Rehab, yes. But hopefully he will go to prison this time. He needs to learn his lesson. I love this guy like a brother…but he needs this.
yup drug abuse is a massive problem here…
Drug abuse is a problem everywhere in the world and the only way to combat it is to legalize it for everyone. In countries where they have decriminalized drugs crime rates dropped more than 50% and the use by youth also declined by more than half. Drugs are for retards but its their choice or at least it should be after all we are in America and our president is and was a crack head.