ST. GEORGE — A man was arrested Monday after allegedly breaking into a country club over the weekend and stealing nearly $30,000 in golf equipment.
On Sunday, officers were dispatched to the Bloomington Country Club after an employee called emergency dispatch reporting a break-in at the business. Officers arrived to learn that over $29,000 in golfing supplies had been stolen from the business, much of which belonged to nine club members.
According to the probable cause statement filed in support of the arrest, emergency dispatch received a call on Monday reporting that an individual, later identified as 30-year-old David Bird, was attempting to pawn several sets of golf clubs that were suspected to be stolen, based on information received by the pawnshop following the burglary reported over the weekend.
When officers responded to the pawnshop, they found 20 golf clubs and a range finder that Bird was attempting to pawn, but the transaction had yet to be completed.
Bird initially told police the clubs belonged to him but later changed his story and said they did not belong to him, according to the report, adding that he was asked to sell the clubs by a friend who had no photo ID.
Police say Bird said he confirmed the property was not stolen and then agreed to sell the items for a fee. The suspect also admitted to posting an advertisement on a social media site to sell several of the clubs, and screenshots of the postings were captured and later turned over to police.
A review of the suspect’s cell phone failed to corroborate Bird’s account of a second suspect, and he was also unable to provide any information on the location where he had picked the items up from before taking them to the pawnshop. Authorities did, however, find messages indicating several of the clubs were left behind and where they were located, according to the report.
Scott Brandt, general manager of the Bloomington Country Club, told St. George News that as soon as the break-in was discovered and reported to police, he and his staff began the process of notifying nearby golf courses and area pawnshops with a description of the stolen property.
It was one of those calls to a local pawnshop that prompted the call to police on Monday.
Brandt also said his staff began scouring social media to see if any of the items were being advertised to sell. After a number of posted items were found, screenshots were taken of the ads and later turned over to authorities.
Bloomington Country Club is equipped with a security system, Brandt added, and every effort is made to protect the members’ property, including the extra effort on the part of the staff that ultimately resulted in the recovery of a majority of the property that was then returned to the members. Those efforts were also instrumental in helping to identify the person responsible.
“In the end, our members trust us with their property,” Brandt said. “So when an unfortunate situation like this presents itself, we go to great lengths and make every effort to make sure their property is returned wherever possible.”
Following the interview with police on Monday, Bird was arrested and booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility. He was charged with a second-degree felony for receiving stolen property and a third-degree felony for burglary of a building. He also faces four misdemeanor charges for possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia.
The property later seized by police was returned to the rightful owners.
Once the suspect was booked into jail, two additional charges were filed by the Washington County Attorney’s Office in connection with a second unrelated case that was reported Sept. 21, 2021, involving a residential burglary reported in St. George, according to charging documents filed with the court.
In this incident, officers responded to a residence to follow up on a reported burglary. According to the report, the homeowner said they returned home to find their large-screen TV and speakers missing and later found outside in the backyard, which led the reporting party to think the suspect had planned to return to the home at a later time to retrieve the items.
Police say that during the previous evening, officers were dispatched to this same home to arrest the woman who was watching the residence while the reporting party was away. The woman was arrested on charges of drug and weapons offenses.
The homeowner suspected it was the woman’s boyfriend, later identified as Bird, who may have been involved in the burglary, the officer noted in the report. The homeowner said she was also contacted by a bank branch in Mesquite, Nevada, who said Bird had cashed a $400 check drawn from her business account. And days later, the suspect returned to the branch attempting to cash another check for $700.
Officers also learned of a second suspect, Tony Seegmiller, who reportedly went to a different bank branch located in St. George and cashed a $500 check from the same business account owned by the reporting party.
On Monday, officers met with Seegmiller, who allegedly admitted to cashing the check but said Bird gave him the check to cash for him. Seegmiller also said the proceeds went directly back to Bird, minus the $100 he was paid for doing so, according to the report.
Surveillance footage captured at the bank showed Seegmiller at the teller window where he was purportedly cashing the check.
Seegmiller was arrested and booked into jail facing third-degree felony forgery and misdemeanor theft by deception – charges that were filed on Tuesday. He was also booked on a misdemeanor warrant issued out of justice court in Davis County on drug and trespassing charges.
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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