ST. GEORGE —Charges continue to pile up for a suspect arrested for the alleged theft of a power washer, which led to the recovery of multiple stolen items reported in a string of thefts throughout Washington County.
Last week, officers were dispatched to a report of a theft that took place in front of a residence in Washington City. The reporting party told responding officers that on Sept. 9, a pressure washer had been taken from the back of his pickup truck, which was parked in the driveway of his home.
Later, he said he thought he saw the pressure washer in a neighbor’s garage and provided officers with photos of him using the equipment that also had a unique feature – an after-market handle that had been installed to replace the factory-installed handle, according to charging documents filed with the court.
Police say they then went to the suspect’s residence, located within a block of the complainant, they found the door to the garage door open, and inside they could see a pressure washer with the same distinct handle matching the photos of the one reportedly taken in September.
Officers approached the residence and spoke to Alex Romero, who said he was not aware of any stolen property and then told authorities they could go into the garage, the report states.
During the search, officers recovered the power washer as well as a generator after a check on the serial number revealed it was stolen in June, authorities say.
When asked, Romero reportedly said he received the generator from a friend and did not know where the friend had gotten it.
With search warrant in hand, officers searched the suspect’s residence while Romero said there were several items in the home that had been dropped off by “other individuals,” property that officers said Romero knew was stolen, as noted in the report.
Authorities also recovered a laptop computer from inside a backpack that belonged to Romero’s roommate, and when the computer was refreshed, the internet search page popped up showing a list of local pawn shops in the area.
“Also in the search history there was a search for some of the property that was located inside of the garage who he said was dropped off by friends,” the officer wrote.
Romero was arrested, and during a search of the suspect, officers found a small baggie of suspected methamphetamine, along with a pipe reportedly used for smoking heroin, according to the report.
He was then transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility and booked into jail facing three misdemeanor charges, including theft by receiving stolen property, possession of a controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia.
During the booking process at the jail corrections, officers performed a body search of the suspect and recovered a small plastic bag containing suspected heroin, along with a blue chalk-like substance that reportedly field-tested positive for a substance containing codeine and morphine. The discovery resulted in two third-degree felony charges of possession of a controlled substance, along with a second misdemeanor paraphernalia charge.
Following the suspect’s arrest, the case was reviewed by the Washington County Attorney’s Office, and the theft by receiving stolen property was enhanced to a third-degree felony.
One of the items recovered from the suspect’s garage, a Gazelle electric bike, which the suspect told officers was his, was found to belong to an individual living in Pennsylvania, who reportedly told officers he had two bikes cut off his vehicle during a visit to the area.
Following the recovery of the e-bike valued at more than $1,500, a second case was filed against Romero on Monday that included two additional third-degree felony theft charges that were filed in that case.
On Tuesday, another case was filed in connection with a motorcycle, a Honda Shadow, recovered from the suspect’s garage that turned out to be stolen from a residence in St. George. The suspect was charged with second-degree felony theft in that case, bringing the total to four felony theft charges filed against Romero, as well as the drug charges.
A review of court records indicates the recent arrest in Washington City was not Romero’s first run-in with the law. In fact, he has had eight felony cases and convictions filed in both Washington and Iron Counties since 2010.
One such case filed in 2018 resulted in the suspect’s arrest and later conviction in Iron County on felony attempted burglary and theft charges after a homeowner in Enoch reported a break-in in which two firearms, cash and coins were stolen. The suspect was on probation at the time, and a series of violations followed until the case was ultimately closed when Romero entered the drug court program in Washington County the following year.
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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