ST. GEORGE — The seventh suspect allegedly involved in a foiled $80,000 ATM heist and multi-agency pursuit was booked Wednesday into jail and faces three first-degree felony and other charges.
After spending more than a week in the hospital for hypothermia — the result of a foot pursuit through the snow on Feb. 23 — 21-year-old Tyree D-Onice Smith, of Houston, Texas, was booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility.
He had been captured in Virgin by police and transported to St. George Regional Hospital, where he remained for eight days while being treated for hypothermia, according to the affidavit filed in support of the arrest warrant.
The arrest stems from an incident reported at 3 a.m. on Feb. 23, when a silent alarm at a Chase Bank branch on Sunset Boulevard alerted police to suspicious activity. They arrived to find the ATM machine heavily damaged.
Police also viewed the surveillance footage that showed several suspects approach in a pickup truck with chains attached to the rear bumper and used to pull apart the machine. The suspects grabbed more than $80,000 in cash from the damaged machine and fled the scene.
When an officer in Hurricane spotted the suspects heading east on state Route 9, it sparked a multi-agency pursuit that continued into Virgin until one of the vehicles crashed off Smith Mesa Road in Virgin. From there, the five suspects jumped out and fled from police on foot, including Smith; however, no further details or records on this individual could be located when the initial report published because he remained in the hospital and was not formally booked until Wednesday.
The foot chase on Feb. 23 took place through the remote area in Virgin, where there was snow on the ground and outside temperatures hovered just above 24 degrees. Initial reports also indicated several of the suspects were not wearing shoes at the time, and none were dressed for inclement weather.
Subsequently, all five men were transported to the hospital to be checked and medically cleared, but it was Smith, who was one of the last to be found hiding in a shed, who was the only suspect admitted that day.
The following day, officers applied for a no-bail arrest warrant, and once Smith was medically cleared eight days later, he was transported from the hospital directly to the jail in Washington County. He faces several charges, including felony burglary, theft, vehicle theft, criminal mischief and failing to stop at commend of law enforcement.
When the charges were sent to the Washington County Attorney’s Office for review, however, both theft charges were enhanced to two first-degree felony counts of theft in concert with three or more person or in relation to a criminal street gang, as well as a second-degree felony count of burglary in concert with three or more person or in relation to a criminal street gang. The criminal mischief charge also was enhanced to a second-degree felony, and an additional charge of criminal mischief in the third-degree was added, while the other charges remained the same.
The suspect remains in custody without bail and made an initial appearance in 5th District Court on Friday.
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.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.