ST. GEORGE – A St. George man was arrested on multiple charges Wednesday after officers discovered he had tried to change the date on his driver’s license to make it appear valid.
At about 3:30 Wednesday, St. George Police Officer Doug Iverson stopped a vehicle driven by Jonathan McArthur, 33, at 400 S. 100 West for having a brake light out, according to the probable cause statement supporting the arrest.
McArthur first claimed to be from Minnesota, however, no valid identification or driver’s license was found from that state, Iverson said in the statement, and McArthur denied ever having a Utah driver license.
“I advised him (that) I could not positively identify him, so until I could do that, he was under arrest,” Iverson said.
“During the course of that stop, the officer was trying to inquire about his driver’s license status, and was able to learn that he had an expired Utah driver’s license,” St. George Police Sgt. Sam Despain said. “In his possession, Mr. McArthur had a Utah ID card that had been expired, however, altered to make it look like it was still current.”
The license had been altered to make the expiration date of 2013 look like 2018, Iverson said in the statement.
“During the course of the investigation, he was also found to be in possession of suspected heroin, and heroin paraphernalia. So he was charged with the forgery, or altering that document, as well as driving on a denied license, the brake light violation, and the drug charges,” Despain said.
While searching McArthur, Iverson located a syringe and a spoon, which later tested positive for heroin residue, Iverson said in the statement.
McArthur was transported to the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility.
McArthur is charged with two second-degree felonies for forgery and possession of a controlled substance; a class A misdemeanor for possession of drug paraphernalia; and two class C misdemeanors for driving with a denied license and unlawful tail lamps. His bail is set at $22,043.
The charges were enhanced one degree, because the arrest took place in a drug free zone – less than 1,000 feet from a church or school, according to the statement.
Read more: Drug-free zones: What, where are they? What is their purpose? STGnews Videocast
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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The moral of this story is make sure your brake lights work.
D***it Johnny. It looks as if you are being provided another opportunity to shift gears. Good luck my friend.
*Ed. ellipses
Maybe groanattack can get a cab for him to get to purgatory I’m sure it’s cheaper than riding in the back of the police car
Dang junkie.
get cleaned up boy your giving your family a bad name grow up you need some good rehabilitation. prison will not work for you it cost money to fix the problem
i know your family has money
When the cops pull you over, it’s always best to wave your arms and run yelling, “bee’s bee’s bee’s”.
Not a good idea to alter a drivers license. He got two felonies added for his creativity.
Happy Valentines Day ladybug
🙂 happy valentines day!