ST. GEORGE – Police arrested a St. George man early Sunday morning for allegedly assaulting two people who were trying to stop him from burglarizing their vehicle. Police then added charges of criminal mischief and disorderly conduct after the man began kicking and spitting all over the inside of a patrol car.

Just before 3 a.m., officers responded to the Denny’s parking lot, 155 N. 1000 East, in St. George on a report of a vehicle burglary where witnesses told police a kid was breaking into cars, according to a probable cause statement filed by the St. George Police Department in support of the arrest.

When officers arrived at the scene, they could see a man, later identified as 23-year-old Jose Antonio Sanchez, being held down by another man, who let Sanchez go when officers pulled up.

“Jose stood up and turned around smiling,” the arresting officer wrote, “and kept talking very fast and was not making any sense. Jose kept talking about everything red belonging to him.”

A woman at the scene told police Sanchez had attempted more than once to get into her vehicle, the statement said, and then later assaulted her while they were trying to restrain him.

“Jose was being very loud and yelling over and over ‘everything red belongs to me, that’s my car it’s green and is mine,’” the officer wrote in the statement.

Police tried to calm Sanchez down and ask him what happened, according to the statement, but “he kept rambling about owning everything” and that “everything is free.”

“Jose was very animated and kept yelling and I told him several more times to calm down and talk to me,” the officer wrote. “Jose said that I just better put him in cuffs then and turned around and put his hands behind his back. Due to his bizarre behavior I did place Jose into cuffs.”

Sanchez continued screaming as officers placed him in a patrol car while they interviewed witnesses.

The woman told police when she and the man confronted Sanchez about trying to get into their vehicle, he began saying “sorry sorry,” according to the statement. Sanchez then walked away towards a Volkswagen Bug and put a key into the door handle and opened it. When the door opened, the car alarm went off and Sanchez sat down inside it.

The man confronted Sanchez again about “shaving keys down” after he saw several scratches near the key hole on his vehicle, the probable cause statement said. Sanchez told the man “no” and then grabbed him. The man also grabbed Sanchez, who got away, but then physically confronted the man again.

The man was able to gain control of Sanchez and hold him down until officers arrived. Witnesses were also able to provide police with the keys Sanchez had used with a “shaved and twisted key on the ring.”

While police were interviewing witnesses, they could hear Sanchez yelling and kicking inside the patrol car, according to the statement. Sanchez also allegedly spit numerous times all over the inside of the patrol car. Officers then put a spit mask and leg restraints on Sanchez.

Sanchez was arrested and booked into the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility.

He was charged with a class A misdemeanor for vehicle burglary, four class B misdemeanors for assault, possession of burglary tools, criminal mischief causing intentional damage, and a class C misdemeanor for disorderly conduct.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Related posts

• On the record: Beyond arrest, convictions bring life sentence of hardship
• Drug-free zones: What, where are they? What is their purpose? STGnews Videocast
• Utah considers major criminal justice reform, reduced drug offense charges

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

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