ST. GEORGE – Recently released from jail, a former inmate returned to the county jail grounds Tuesday afternoon and allegedly stole a kayak used for search and rescue operations. He didn’t make it very far.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office identified the alleged thief in a press release as Daniel Blake Willey who had been released from Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility earlier this month.
Willey nonetheless returned and grabbed a kayak from a storage area for vehicles and items used by the Washington County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team, according to Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies conducting a check of the area discovered items were missing from the storage area and discovered drag marks leading from where the kayaks were stored to a spot outside the jail grounds.
The deputies followed the tracks and soon found the items, along with Willey, who was reportedly sitting inside the kayak at the time.
Willey was taken into custody and reacquainted with the inside of Purgatory, now facing a misdemeanor theft charge.
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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