CEDAR CITY — A man who fled from police Friday afternoon after he was allegedly caught burglarizing a Cedar City woman’s home was arrested at Wal-Mart Sunday.

Police responding to a report of a shoplifter at Wal-Mart noted the suspect, 24-year-old Timothy Jordan Harrison of Salt Lake City, matched the description of the house burglar they were looking for from Friday, according to a press release issued by Cedar City Police.

“We had an officer that chased him,” Cedar City Police Public Information Officer Jimmy Roden said, explaining that the man’s physical description in conjunction with testimony and evidence collected during an investigation helped police connect the crimes.

A woman returning to her home in the area of 300 North and 800 West Friday found the back door of her apartment partially open and a knife on the floor near the door, according to the press release.

“The victim returned to her car and contacted police. While she was speaking with dispatch, the suspect exited her apartment with several stolen items,” the release states.

When police arrived, the suspect ran and a foot chase ensued, Roden said, adding the man lost both shoes in the chase but continued to flee through several yards and over fences before police lost sight of him.

Cedar City Police along with a K-9 unit, Iron County Sheriff’s Office, Utah Highway Patrol and Southern Utah University Police combed the area for several hours trying to locate the suspect.

A notification from Everbridge, Iron County’s Citizen Alert System, was sent out to area residents who signed up for the program. The alert warned of a white male wearing all black who was possibly armed with a knife.

“They were searching all around the area,” Roden said, “but they really focused on that one city block in case he hid somewhere.”

Though the hours-long search proved unsuccessful, Harrison was identified as the burglary suspect after he was arrested at Wal-Mart on a shoplifting charge.

Harrison was booked into the Iron County Correctional Facility on three outstanding warrants: two counts of theft by deception, a class B misdemeanor and class A misdemeanor theft. He was also charged with a class A misdemeanor of retail theft for the Wal-Mart incident.

After further investigation, Roden said, Cedar City Police filed an additional probable cause statement with the jail in support of charges in conjunction with the Friday burglary. Additional charges facing Harrison include burglary of a dwelling, a second degree felony; one third degree felony theft charge; and failure to stop at the command of a police officer, a class A misdemeanor.

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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