ST. GEORGE — A 22-year-old woman fell from a balcony at an apartment on 605 East Tabernacle in the early hours Saturday in what police say looks like a party gone wrong.
St. George Police Sgt. Tyrell Bangerter said officers were first called to the scene at approximately 1 a.m. Saturday on a noise complaint, stemming from a gathering where minors were reportedly consuming alcohol and marijuana. A couple officers arrived and were attempting to make contact at the front door when dispatch contacted them to divert from that unit and respond to another incident at the same complex.
A female had been seen falling from the balcony of a second-floor unit and landing on the ground, Bangerter said. The woman was apparently on a back balcony at the unit in question, one facing the cemetery, before her fall. She was breathing but unresponsive, Bangerter said, adding that she was determined to have internal injuries and was transported to the hospital.
The St. George Police Department Investigations Division was called out, which Bangerter said is standard procedure anytime someone falls or goes off a balcony. A supervisor and a detective from investigations conducted interviews to determine whether the fall was accidental, suicidal or the result of attempted homicide.
“There are lots of different options that it could be, and we want to make sure we investigate all of these. It sounds like she was intoxicated,” Bangerter said Saturday. “The officers will follow up with her to try to get more information. When she’s in a better state, she can be interviewed.”
There were four males and another female at the unit when police responded, Bangerter said. The four males were charged in connection with a minor consuming alcohol and possession of marijuana.
It was a busy night for the St. George Police Department as well as for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, which had personnel in the city handling “some significant incidents,” Bangerter said. He added that the Police Department benefited from interagency cooperation, with campus police from Dixie State University stepping up to help with the call at the apartment.
There was no information on the ages of the males at the gathering or whether any attendees were students. The investigation is ongoing.
St. George News Reporter Stephanie DeGraw contributed to this article.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.