Driver’s license, job application identifies 2 suspected of breaking into Washington City business

Stock image of Washington City Police patrol vehicle | St. George News

ST. GEORGE —Two suspects reportedly involved in a business burglary in Washington City were identified by a copy of a driver’s license and a job application. Police obtained both from a local recycling plant where the suspects allegedly sold stolen objects.

Photo for illustrative purposes of Washington City Police officers responding to Red Hills Drive, Washington City, Utah, Feb. 21, 2019 | Photo courtesy of the Washington City Police Department, St. George News

On Monday, officers were dispatched to a business in Washington City on a report of a burglary that took place in the early morning hours of March 31. The reporting party told police that several power tools, camera equipment and 30 vehicle wheels had been stolen during the break-in. 

According to charging documents filed by the Washington City Police in support of the arrest, the break-in was captured on the shop’s security cameras and revealed there were two suspects involved. 

During a review of the footage, officers watched as the suspects loaded the wheels onto a cart that was used to transport the items across the parking lot. The wheels were then thrown over the fence, but officers were unable to identify the suspects from the video.

The owner also told investigators that after the break-in, he found out that the stolen wheels were reportedly sold to a local metal recycling plant. Officers responded to the recycling plant and recovered the shop’s security footage that showed two suspects — a man and a woman — selling the wheels to the recycler. 

The woman was identified as 46-year-old Shale Marie Thompson. A frequent customer of the recycling plant, employees still had a copy of her driver’s license from a recent transaction when the suspect sold “a large quantity of material to the business,” according to the court documents.

The second suspect, Raymond Alex Jimenez, 40, of Southern California, was identified through a job application he submitted to the recycling business weeks before. 

A check of Thompson’s vehicle registration listed an address in St. George, which is where investigators located the suspects, along with the vehicle they were allegedly driving at the time of the incident.  

A dorm that will house 60 inmates at Purgatory Correctional Facility’s Community Corrections Center, Hurricane, Utah, Oct. 15, 2018 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News

Thompson told officers she did not steal any items, and said the wheels she sold to the recycling business were items she had been collecting from the side of the road. The report states that Jimenez denied any knowledge that the wheels were stolen, telling officers that Thompson had paid him to take wheels to the recycling plant and sell them on multiple occasions. 

Both suspects were arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility and booked into jail, each facing multiple charges. Thompson faces third-degree felony burglary, misdemeanor theft and possession of burglary tools. 

Jimenez faces on second-degree felony count of receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle and a third-degree felony count of unlawful acquisition of a financial card. He also faces one misdemeanor count of shoplifting, removal of a detection device and possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia.

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, 2023, all rights reserved.

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