Traffic stop yields treasure trove, stolen property

WASHINGTON CITY – A Washington City man was arrested during a traffic stop following a short-lived police chase Tuesday, booked on 18 criminal charges, 13 of those felonies, for a variety of drug- and theft-related crimes. A judge has ordered $25,000 cash-only bail for his release from custody pending trial.

Police recognized the driver of a blue Dodge pickup truck as a suspect in a theft case and attempted to pull him over in Washington City, according to a probable cause statement filed by the Washington City Police Department in support of the arrest.

The driver sped up as the officer turned on his traffic lights to initiate a traffic stop. The driver then sped through a gas station parking lot between two gas pumps and back out onto the roadway, the statement said. The pursuit continued for another half-mile before coming to a stop.

Joshua Craig Cavanee, of Washington, Utah, booking photo posted July 21, 2015 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News
Joshua Craig Cavanee, of Washington, Utah, booking photo posted July 21, 2015 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

When police spoke with the driver of the truck, identified as Joshua Craig Cavanee, they located a firearm in the vehicle, according to the statement. Because Cavanee is a convicted felon, it is illegal for him to have a weapon in his possession.

When officers ran the serial number on the firearm, the statement said, information showed the gun was reported as stolen out of St. George.

Cavanee was placed under arrest for evading police and possession of a stolen firearm.

Inside Cavanee’s truck, officers also located a syringe loaded with a clear liquid substance and seven other syringes inside a sunglass container.

“I asked Josh what drugs he uses,” the statement said, “and he informed me he injects methamphetamine and cocaine.”

From there, officers allegedly located somewhat of a treasure trove of stolen items in Cavanee’s possession.

Two license plates that had been reported stolen, were found in Cavanee’s truck, according to the statement. The vehicles for the stolen license plates have not been found.

When police searched Cavanee’s storage unit, they located a stolen compactor worth over $500 that the owner was able to identify, a trailer stolen out of St. George worth over $1,500, and a stolen Milwaukee power tool with another’s name on it, identified by the owner as being worth around $200.

Police also located four sets of keys that went to a Dodge Caravan, a Dodge truck, a Ford Taurus and a Chevrolet truck that did not belong to Cavanee.

“I was later informed Joshua had broken into the four vehicles where the keys were inside each vehicle,” according to the statement of probable cause.

Cavanee was charged with two second-degree felonies for drug possession and theft, 11 third-degree felonies for theft by receiving stolen property, failing to stop at the command of an officer and possession of a firearm by a restricted person, four class A misdemeanors for burglary of a vehicle, and a class B misdemeanor for possession of drug paraphernalia.

Judge G. Michael Westfall, of the 5th District Court, ordered a $25,000 cash-only bail for Cavanee’s release pending trial during his initial court appearance on Thursday. He was found indigent by the court and will be represented by court-appointed attorney Douglas Terry.

Persons arrested or 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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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

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11 Comments

  • fun bag July 24, 2015 at 2:00 pm

    “Two license plates that had been reported stolen, were found in Cavanee’s truck, according to the statement. The vehicles for the stolen license plates have not been found.”

    stolen vehicles or stolen lic plates??? you need to make your writing more clear….

    • knobe July 25, 2015 at 1:36 pm

      Clearly says stolen PLATES ( crooks steal hopefully clean plates to put on their vehicles that have warrants ) .
      Clearly says the vehicles for the stolen plates not found .

      The writing is actually VERY clear !

  • Free Parking July 24, 2015 at 2:25 pm

    Maybe the plates were from a stolen vehicle that had stolen plates on it so the stolen vehicle was reported as stolen because the plates were stolen from another vehicle that had stolen plates so the plates belonged to another car that wasn’t stolen but the plates were stolen so the vehicle had stolen plates from a stolen vehicle with stolen plates… Okay now that’s all straightened out..

    • ladybugavenger July 24, 2015 at 6:25 pm

      Hahahaba

    • Billy Madison July 25, 2015 at 8:46 am

      Now what? Say that again only slower, I lost you somewhere.

      • Real Life July 25, 2015 at 4:04 pm

        He’s off his meds.

        • Free Parking July 26, 2015 at 8:31 am

          Tell us all about it REAL DORK

    • sagemoon July 25, 2015 at 4:55 pm

      LOL

  • sagemoon July 25, 2015 at 4:56 pm

    Dang thieving tweeker.

  • Free Parking July 26, 2015 at 8:32 am

    Tell us all about it REAL DORK

  • Angelbaby7185 April 17, 2017 at 11:18 am

    Im trying to find out who the detective is on all of this if anyone has info please let me know

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