ST. GEORGE — A 21-year-old man is facing a variety of charges after he allegedly assaulted a police officer who was attempting to arrest him early Tuesday morning for reportedly burglarizing vehicles in the parking lot of a St. George hotel.

At approximately 1:45 a.m. Tuesday, officers responded to a reported trespassing incident at the Holiday Inn Express located at 1808 S. 270 East in St. George, according to a probable cause statement filed by the St. George Police Department in support of the arrest.

Officers were advised by hotel staff that they wished to have a man in the hotel lobby removed from the building, the arresting officer wrote in a sworn statement.

Witnesses reported that the man, identified as Lyric Cole Lyons, of Ogden, had been seen breaking into several vehicles in the hotel parking lot, according to the statement.

“One staff member advised that she observed Lyric (Lyons) sitting inside her vehicle,” the officer wrote in the statement, noting that the woman had not given him permission to enter her vehicle.

After Lyons exited her vehicle, the woman reportedly looked inside and found several papers and other miscellaneous items scattered across the seat and floorboard, the report stated, prompting the woman to pursue criminal charges for vehicle burglary.

Lyons allegedly refused to answer any of the officers’ questions, and when they attempted to detain him, he refused to cooperate, according to the statement.

“I told him to stand up and place his hands behind his head,” the officer stated. “He sat on the ground and shook his head in the negative stating, ‘I am not and you’re not f—— touching me.’”

According to the report, Lyons continued to resist arrest, shake his head “no” and tell officers not to touch him.

“He held his arms, which were crossed in front of his chest, tightly against his body. He started screaming ‘Let me go, don’t touch me,’” the officer wrote. “While holding him down, he kicked me with his left foot, striking my left shoulder and yelled ‘Let go of me you f—— pig.’”

Lyons was arrested and transported to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George for medical clearance before being booked into the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility.

Upon searching Lyons’ backpack, officers located a plastic baggie containing raw marijuana, the report stated.

The Washington County Attorney’s Office filed an information in 5th District Court accusing Lyons of two class A misdemeanor counts of burglary of a vehicle and assault against an officer, three class B misdemeanor counts of possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia and interfering with an arresting officer and a class C misdemeanor of disorderly conduct.

Judge John Walton, of the 5th District Court, ordered $5,000 bail for Lyons’ release pending trial.

Lyons was found indigent by the court during his initial court appearance Tuesday and will be represented by court-appointed attorney Michael Lastowski.

According to Utah Court documents, Lyons was arrested Sept. 27, 2015, on similar charges, including burglary of a vehicle, failure to stop at the command of law enforcement and propelling a substance or object at an officer.

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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