Suspect allegedly linked to multiple crimes in Washington County faces multiple felony charges

Stock image, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A St. George woman with an extensive criminal history that includes 19 cases and convictions for crimes allegedly committed across the state is back in jail after officers in Hurricane reportedly find the suspect in the area of a vehicle reported as stolen.

Stock image | Photo by Glenn Highcove/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

Four cases with multiple charges have been filed against 36-year-old Jordan Renee Dente, who was arrested near a convenience store in Hurricane, where authorities say the suspect had parked a vehicle reported stolen out of St. George in the parking lot – and then she walked away, according to several probable cause statements filed in support of the arrest.

Dente was identified as the suspect in the car theft when officer viewed the store’s surveillance footage that showed her pulling into the store parking lot and then walk away. Shortly thereafter, officers located Dente within two blocks of the convenience store and she was taken into custody by police.

During a search of Dente prior to transport, officers found bank and ID cards that did not belong to her.

As it turned out, the car was reportedly stolen from a parking lot on Bluff Street in St. George earlier that same day after the owner called 911 reporting their car was broken into and stolen.

In the meantime, officers processing the scene at the convenience store in Hurricane conducted a search of Dente prior to transport, which is when they found five bank and identification cards that did not belong to the suspect.

Officers learned later the cards belonged to the owner of the vehicle that was reportedly stolen out of St. George.

File photo for illustrative purposes only of police officers on Bluff Street in St. George, Utah, March 3, 2022 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News

Officers also noticed that Dente was wearing the same clothing as the suspect captured by video during the car theft, and when questioned, Dente denied stealing the cards, and went on to tell officers that the bank and ID cards belonged to her sister who died three years ago.

The officer became suspicious when he noticed that one of the cards was issued in April, more than 2 1/2 years after the sister had purportedly died.

Officers also tied Dente to another unrelated incident reported Aug. 3, when officers responded to a theft reported at a fitness center on Sunset Boulevard in St. George, where a suspect allegedly took a new iPhone 13 from one of the lockers and then left the premises.

“The video clearly shows the female obtaining the cell phone and leaving the gym with it in her possession,” the officer wrote in the report.

The woman involved in the alleged iPhone theft also matched the suspect in the car theft, who was later seen on video leaving the vehicle in the parking lot in Hurricane.

Dente was arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility shortly after midnight and was booked into jail facing multiple charges in four separate cases, including one second-degree felony count of theft of a vehicle. She also faces seven third-degree felony charges that include two counts of theft and five counts of unlawful acquisition of a financial card, along with one count of possession of another’s identifying documents and four drug and paraphernalia misdemeanor charges.

Following the arrest last week, Dente made an initial appearance in 5th District Court on all four cases on Monday and was ordered to remain in jail on $5,000 bail.

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.

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