ST. GEORGE — Charges continue to pile up for a local man arrested Monday for allegedly stealing a vehicle. The man is also suspected in a number of other unrelated thefts and burglaries being investigated by police.
Shortly after 2 p.m. Monday, officers responded to a residence off of 1400 North to follow up on a stolen vehicle report involving a Honda passenger car. Police found a car matching the report parked along the street. A license plate check confirmed that the plates were stolen, and when the officer went to get the VIN number, he found that it had been covered up.
The officer spoke to the individual who called in the stolen license plate report, and when he returned to the area where the Honda was parked, he found that the car had been moved. The officer located the car one block away, and once the VIN was uncovered, the officer ran it through dispatch and was advised the car was reported stolen out of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Through the course of the investigation, officers conducted a number of interviews and learned that 28-year-old Jordan Dwayne Beal was the man suspected of stealing the car.
Officers tracked down the suspect who told police he was test driving the vehicle that he obtained from a man named “Carlos” and was thinking of buying it. Beal also told officers that “Carlos” told him the car came from Las Vegas, adding that “Carlos still comes and picks up the vehicle every now and then,” the officer recounted from the suspect’s statement that was included in the report.
The report also states that at no time during the interview did Beal admit to stealing either the vehicle or the license plate, and he denied any knowledge that the car or plates were stolen.
He allegedly admitted to driving the car “with the possibility of purchasing it,” and said he had only driven the car on two occasions, “but no more than that.”
After the suspect failed to provide police with a last name or any further details about “Carlos” he was arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility and booked on second-degree felony theft of a vehicle and third-degree theft for the license plate.
While in custody at the jail, Beal was interviewed by officers investigating an unrelated theft that was reported on Feb. 17 when police were called out to investigate a reported vehicle burglary that was reported off of 1650 West.
The owner of the vehicle reported that three days earlier, his wallet containing several credit cards and $600 in cash was allegedly taken from the vehicle.
On the day of the report, the owner told police that one of the credit cards was used at a gas station on Sunset Blvd. and at a Red Box kiosk.
Through the course of the investigation, officers obtained detailed information from the credit card company that was used to obtain video footage from both locations that revealed a man and a woman making the purchases.
Officers then compared the booking photo taken of the suspect Monday to the man seen in the video footage and allegedly found a match before responding to the jail to interview the suspect.
According to police, Beal admitted to being in possession of the credit card but told officers it was declined when he attempted to use it to rent the Red Box movie. He also allegedly admitted to knowing that the card was not his, explaining to officers that “his girlfriend brought the card and cash home to him days prior to him using it,” and said she told the suspect she found the card on the ground, the officer stated in the report. He also told police there was “only $400 in the wallet and not $600.”
Officers then submitted two additional third-degree felony charges, unlawful use of a credit card and unlawful acquisition of a credit card, to the Washington County Attorney’s Office for review, charges that were filed the following day.
Beal also faces charges from an investigation into an incident in February involving a storage shed that was reportedly broken into, out of which $1,300 in property allegedly taken. Officers arrived to find that the lock securing the unit was cut off. As the investigation continued, officers obtained video footage taken from across the street that showed two vehicles pull up to the storage unit, one of which “belonged to Jordan Beal,” the officer noted in the report, adding that he had prior dealings with the suspect and had information that he was staying in the Dixie Downs area.
When the officer responded to the location, he observed a piece of evidence from the storage burglary, a blue and white Igloo cooler with the letters of a company on it, the same company owned by the individual who reported the burglary. The suspect was arrested the following month during a traffic stop on 1400 West, the same area where officers would allegedly find the stolen vehicle in April.
Beal was later charged with third-degree felony burglary and misdemeanor theft, charges that are still pending in the courts. He remains in custody on $12,500 bail.
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