Woman accused of pulling gun on protester faces lesser criminal charge after county attorney reviews case

A crowd gathers during a protest near the area of Main Street and St. George Boulevard, minutes before an altercation allegedly took place that led to an arrest, St. George, Utah, June 4, 2020 | Photo courtesy of David Maycock, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — The criminal charge against a woman accused of drawing a gun on a protester in St. George has been reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Mandy Monay Staheli, 41, booking photo posted in Washington County, Utah, June 5, 2020 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

Mandy Monay Staheli, 41, of St. George, was originally arrested and booked into jail on third-degree felony aggravated assault Thursday night. After screening the police-issued aggravated assault charge, the Washington County Attorney’s Office instead opted to charge her with one count of threatening or using a dangerous weapon in a fight or quarrel, a class A misdemeanor. 

The charge stems from an incident reported shortly before 11 p.m. in the area of Main Street and St. George Boulevard, where a protest against police brutality in the death of George Floyd was winding down.

According to the probable cause statement filed in support of the arrest, the reporting party, a juvenile female, told police she was standing on the southwest corner of the intersection when Staheli pointed a firearm at her. 

In the statement, the responding officer refers to a video that “clearly showed the muzzle of a firearm” matching the one found on Staheli pointed at a person matching the description of the reporting party.

David Maycock, who was in the area at the time of the incident, said he obtained a copy of the video that police viewed to write the report. Maycock showed the video to St. George News, in which Staheli is seen standing near the curb holding a handgun with the muzzle pointed toward the ground.

Maycock said the video is not being released to the public due to the active case still pending with the courts. However, a separate video unrelated to the incident was released to St. George News, in which Staheli is shown engaging in conversation with, and in one case hugging, some of the protesters.

See the video below, in which Staheli appears in a pink shirt wearing glasses.

Staheli has since been terminated from her job at Caldwell Banker Premier of Southern Utah where she had been employed for more than five years.  

According to a statement posted on Caldwell’s Facebook page at 3:55 p.m. Friday, the decision to terminate Staheli’s employment was “swift” once the company became aware of the arrest and the “seriousness” of the charges. The statement was issued shortly before 4 p.m. Friday, approximately 17 hours after the arrest and before any record of the Washington County Attorney’s Office’ formal charge was made available by the courts. 

Coldwell Banker Premier of Southern Utah did not respond to St. George News’ multiple requests for comment.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!