ST. GEORGE — A local man was arrested for aggravated burglary and robbery Saturday in St. George after a Utah Highway Patrol trooper arrested a woman who told the trooper she was assaulted by a man who broke into her residence after he was forced to leave.
According to charging documents filed with the courts, the arrest stems from an incident reported shortly after 3 a.m. Thursday when a UHP trooper informed emergency dispatch that a woman he had arrested for DUI reported that a residence she was staying at had been burglarized earlier that same night.
The woman told St.George Police she had picked up a man who went by the name of “Raz,” and while the two were drinking at the residence, the suspect “started acting weird and freaking out,” the officer noted in the report.
When the woman asked the suspect to leave, he refused, she said, adding that she yelled at the suspect, telling him she would call police if he returned as she pushed him out of the home and then quickly shut the door.
The report continues to say that as soon as she turned around, she saw the suspect at the window, and he ripped out the screen, climbed through the window and allegedly “jumped on top of her,” grabbing her by the hair and slamming her head against the ground multiple times. He then reached into the woman’s clothing and grabbed her iPhone before fleeing the residence out of the same window.
She described the suspect as 5′ 4″, weighing approximately 160 pounds, with a blond mohawk and a red tribal tattoo under his left eye, with “I am” tattooed directly below it. She also told officers that she sustained injuries to the back of her head, which she said were likely caused from her head being slammed against the ground during the assault. Authorities confirmed the injury.
The woman told police the suspect likely took her phone to prevent her from calling for help, and without a phone to call 911, she said she didn’t know what else to do, so she left the residence. Shortly after leaving, she crashed her vehicle and was later arrested by the UHP trooper.
Officers in St. George responded to the residence and found a window screen on the sidewalk near the window that was bent and damaged. The officer noted in his statement that he found the window to be slightly open and the curtains pushed back, “as if someone went through the window.”
The woman also told officers the suspect practiced martial arts at a kickboxing and fitness studio in St. George, and as the investigation ensued, officers identified the suspect as 36-year-old Zeshawn Durrani.
Using the information gleaned from the suspect’s social media profile, officers ran a background check that revealed a prior conviction on a case that involved multiple felony charges, including tampering with a witness, assault of a child and intimidation of a witness, as well as misdemeanor harassment.
Officers responded to the suspect’s residence on North Valley View Drive, where they found Durrani walking toward his truck and took him into custody. Officers also collected his cell phone as evidence. The suspect refused to speak to police, the report states.
Durrani was subsequently transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility and booked on multiple charges, including first-degree felony aggravated burglary for re-entering the woman’s home through a window after being told to leave.
He also faces a robbery charge for allegedly using force to take the woman’s cell phone after “tackling her to the ground and banging her head against the floor causing bodily harm,” the officer noted, which also enhanced the burglary charge to an aggravated offense that was followed by an assault charge. He also faces one misdemeanor count of criminal mischief for damaging the screen as he reentered the home.
Four felony counts of possession of a firearm by a restricted person were added in connection with a photo on social media found by police that depicted the suspect “manipulating four different firearms,” the officer stated in court documents.
Durrani remains in custody on $30,000 bail.
This report is based on statements from police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. 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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