ST. GEORGE — A Washington City man is in jail following the assault of a business owner who was beaten with a metal pipe during a reported robbery.
Officers responded to a business on North 3050 East in St. George on a report of an assault that took place shortly before 6 a.m. on Aug. 22, according to the probable cause statement filed in support of the arrest.
The 911 caller told emergency dispatch he had been attacked by a motorcycle gang, struck with a metal pipe and the suspects involved had just driven off.
Officers arrived at the business on North 3050 East where the caller said he had been having issues with people using the area next to his business to have parties for quite a while, and this day was no different.
He said that one of the participants, a man wearing a black tank top with red facial hair started punching the screen door, which dented the door and broke several of the welds loose that had secured the screen door to the frame.
After attacking the door, the man reportedly assaulted the owner in front of his business, striking him in the head with a metal pipe even after he fell to the ground. The suspect then took the owner’s blue LG cell phone and drove off on a motorcycle.
According to the report, the owner’s clothing appeared torn, with visible swelling around his eyes and multiple lacerations on his face, including on his nose, forehead and around his eyebrows, among other injuries.
A few feet away, officers located a galvanized steel pipe about 12 inches long with a half-inch cap on one end that appeared to have blood on it that was apparently dropped there.
Officers processing the scene found a clump of hair in the gutter located in front of the business that matched the business owners hair, and inches away, they found the two earrings that also belonged to the owner.
The officer noted the owner had been struck in the head with the pipe with such force “it caused both of his gauge earrings to pop out of his ears.”
In the meantime, one of the responding officers noticed a motorcycle driving in the opposite direction of the business and he started following the bike as he called for backup units to assist.
Two patrol units then conducted a traffic stop near the corner of 100 South and Main Street in St. George.
The officer spoke to the driver, later identified as 24-year-old John Thomas Dorosky. The officer noticed the man’s knuckles were bleeding and there were cuts on his hands.
During the stop, the officer saw a blue cell phone in the rider’s rear pocket that was damaged. Dorosky told officers he would not answer any questions, and was detained.
The report states that the cell phone recovered by officers at the traffic stop on 100 South and Main Street matched the blue phone described by the owner. The damage was also reportedly consistent with someone grabbing the phone by each end and twisting it with excessive force, causing the screen to shatter and the case to break.
Photos of Dorosky and the damaged cell phone were sent to the scene where the business owner confirmed it was his blue cell phone in the photo and the man being detained at the traffic stop matched the description of the man who assaulted him. Dorosky was arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility where he was booked into jail.
The suspect faces first-degree felony aggravated robbery, as well as one misdemeanor count each of assault and criminal mischief.
In addition to the destroyed cell phone valued at approximately $1,000, there was also about $200 in damage to the screen door of the business.
Ed. Note: A new Utah law generally prohibits the release of arrest booking photos until after a conviction is obtained.
This report is based on statements from court records, 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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