Cedar City car wash burglars made off with $10,000 in quarters, police say

CEDAR CITY — Police have arrested two men who allegedly stole a change machine containing approximately $10,000 from a Cedar City car wash.

Michael Sprague booking photo, Iron County Jail, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 11, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Iron County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News / Cedar City News

Michael Gordon Sprague, 55, was arrested and booked into Iron County Jail on Thursday on suspicion of felony burglary and theft charges.

According to police, Sprague and two other men broke into a room at the car wash at approximately 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 29, removed the change machine weighing 500 pounds and loaded it into their waiting vehicle, a Volkswagen Jetta.

The incident was recorded by the car wash’s surveillance cameras, as previously reported in Cedar City News. After taking the stolen machine to a storage unit in town, the men allegedly retrieved the money that was inside and traveled to a casino in Mesquite, Nevada to cash in the change. They reportedly gambled with some of the money, according to a probable cause statement filed in support of Sprague’s arrest.

Sprague’s alleged accomplices were identified as Dylan Soracco and a third man who was identified only as Brandon on Sprague’s probable cause statement but who was named Adam on Soracco’s affidavit.

Dylan Soracco booking photo, Iron County Jail, Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 6, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Iron County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News / Cedar City News

Soracco, 28, has been incarcerated at Iron County Jail since Jan. 6. He is facing various charges in multiple recent cases, including drug possession, theft and forgery.

Probable cause affidavits filed in 5th District Court allege that Soracco attempted to buy liquor with a counterfeit $100 bill at the state liquor store on Dec. 28. Police also allegedly found another counterfeit $100 bill with the same serial number in Soracco’s possession during a Dec. 31 traffic stop in a grocery store parking lot, along with drugs and paraphernalia.

The previous month, on Nov. 15, Soracco had been arrested after allegedly running a red light, after which police reportedly found heroin and a .38 caliber pistol inside his vehicle. Soracco’s subsequent Jan. 6 arrest was similar, as officers conducted a traffic stop and allegedly found him to be in possession of heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine and oxycodone. 

In connection with the car wash burglary, Sprague and Soracco each face a second-degree felony theft charge in addition to burglary of a non-dwelling, a third-degree felony.

This report is based on information provided by law enforcement 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.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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