St. George man arrested for allegedly stealing another man’s $3,000 dog

St. George News stock image | Photo by Kimberly Scott, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A St. George man was arrested Friday after allegedly breaking into a St. George apartment and stealing the resident’s dog.

Officers responded to a residence on the 80 South block of 1000 East on a report of a burglary in which the resident had returned home from work to find someone had broken into his home and stole his dog that he bought for $3,000, according to a probable cause statement filed by St. George Police in support of the arrest.

Nicholas Edward Warner, of St. George, Utah, booking photo, March 16, 2018 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

The resident told authorities he suspected that a former roommate – identified as Nicholas Warner, 20, of St. George – had broken into the residence to steal his dog, using a numerical code on the front door lock that had not been changed, the report states.

Officers later located Warner at his new residence on the 3400 South block of Barcelona Drive, according to the statement.

When questioned, Warner admitted that he went to the apartment to get a haircut from another roommate who ended up being out of town and, while there, took the dog, the arresting officer wrote in the sworn statement, adding:

Nicholas (Warner) heard the dog whining in Tony’s room and, having lived in the same room as (the resident) previously, he knew that (the resident) was abusive toward his dog. Therefore, he took the dog and then proceeded to ‘wipe down’ and clean up after himself so that he wouldn’t leave any evidence behind.

Warner further told police he was preparing to give the dog to a girl, so it would be taken care of properly, but that plan fell through when the girl could no longer take the dog, the officer wrote.

After placing Warner under arrest for stealing the dog, authorities located a plastic baggie containing marijuana on his person, the report states.

Warner was transported and booked into the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility.

The Washington County Attorney’s Office filed an information in 5th District Court accusing Warner of second-degree felony burglary of a dwelling, third-degree felony theft and two class B misdemeanor counts of drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Warner was subsequently released from police custody on $16,360 bail pending trial. He is scheduled to appear before 5th District Judge G. Michael Westfall Monday for his initial court appearance.

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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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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4 Comments

  • Carpe Diem March 21, 2018 at 5:52 pm

    Looks like Nicolas Cruz. Creepy dognapper!

  • PlanetU March 21, 2018 at 8:24 pm

    A $3,000 dog? And he lives in an apt.? With NO YARD? I’ve adopted some nice dogs, $20……. Not sure who the real A hole is here but hope someone looks into the abuse of the dog if that’s true.

  • Striker4 March 22, 2018 at 9:48 am

    I see any abuse here

  • Striker4 March 22, 2018 at 9:48 am

    don’t

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