Small theft, big charge if it involves someone’s home; man arrested

ST. GEORGE — A St. George man was arrested Saturday after allegedly illegally entering someone’s home and taking $148, small theft perhaps but a second-degree felony charge nonetheless because it involved a person’s home.

Nicholas Stewart Jones, of St. George, Utah, booking photo posted June 6, 2015 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News
Nicholas Stewart Jones, of St. George, Utah, booking photo posted June 6, 2015 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

At approximately 1:10 a.m., officers responded to a residential burglary in St. George, according to a probable cause statement written by a St. George Police Officer Colby Carter in support of the arrest.

The residents of the home told police 31-year-old Nicholas Stewart Jones was in their home unlawfully, the statement said. He was then seen running out of the home and driving away.

It was discovered that $148 was missing from a lockbox the resident had, according to the statement of probable cause.

“I later found (Jones) at his home,” Carter wrote in the statement. “I was told he was home all night, but no one could verify his story.”

According to Utah Code 76-6-202 – Burglary, a person is guilty of burglary who enters or remains unlawfully in any portion of a building with intent to commit a felony, theft, an assault, lewdness, sexual battery, lewdness involving a child, or voyeurism.

In Utah, burglary is a third-degree felony unless it was committed in a dwelling, in which event it is a second-degree felony and comes with a $10,000 bail.

Jones was arrested and booked into the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility. He was charged with a second-degree felony for burglary of a dwelling.

Jones was released from custody on $10,000 bond. He is scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Friday.

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, 2015, all rights reserved.

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