Local man with 20-year criminal history arrested on 8 warrants for failing to appear in court

Stock photo | Photo by The Crimson Ribbon/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A local resident with an extensive criminal history that includes dozens of felony and misdemeanor charges and convictions was arrested Thursday on eight warrants issued out of 5th District Court more than a week ago.

Terrance Eugene Davis, 36, of St. George, booking photo taken in Washington County, Utah, Jan. 21, 2021| Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

St. George resident Terrence Eugene Davis, 36, was arrested Thursday. Many of the warrants were issued on Jan. 5 after the suspect failed to appear in 5th District Court on multiple cases filed by the Washington County Attorney’s Office.

He was booked into jail shortly before midnight.

One such warrant was issued on a misdemeanor drug case filed in November 2020 after the defendant failed to appear for a roll call hearing scheduled in 5th District Court. The defendant also failed to appear on a shoplifting charge. In that case, Davis is suspected of stealing several power tools from Home Depot in Washington City and was identified through the store’s surveillance footage by police. He was arrested and charged in October, court records indicate.

Another warrant was issued on a case reported in August 2020 involving an incident on Old Highway 91 where a suspect broke into a rental business in the middle of the night. Surveillance footage showed a man entering the establishment whom officers were able to identify as Davis from several previous run-ins involving other alleged crimes.

While inside a clubhouse, the suspect was seen breaking into a locked room and then exiting minutes later carrying “bags that were full,” of approximately $500 worth of items and supplies that were used to stock the rental cabins, the officer noted in the report.

Officers caught up with Davis who denied going into the business or taking anything. He was subsequently booked into jail on felony burglary and misdemeanor theft, as well as other warrants that were still outstanding at the time he was taken into custody.

Another warrant involves a case filed in July 2020 involving the theft of more than $2,000 in power tools from a vehicle and Davis was identified as the suspect responsible after the owner posted screenshots of the surveillance footage online of the suspect and the Suzuki he was driving. Several individuals recognized the suspect and contacted the owner and identified him. He was later charged with felony theft and misdemeanor burglary of a vehicle following the incident.

Terrance Eugene Davis, 36, of Washington City, booking photo taken in Washington County, Utah, Sept. 19, 2020 | File photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

Prior to the arrest Thursday, Davis has been out of custody after being released following a drug arrest that took place Dec. 9 at a trailer park in Hurricane and he is scheduled to appear in court in February on those charges.

He is also scheduled to appear on another open case that is moving through the courts involving an incident reported in Washington City on Sept. 22 when officers were dispatched to a report of a child found walking down the street Saturday holding broken glass. Officers were advised the child lived in a house nearby and that the reporting party’s attempts to contact the residents were unsuccessful.

The officer arrived to find the bystander holding the small child, who was wearing no shoes with dirty, scratched feet, along with dried blood that appeared to have come from a small laceration to the toddler’s hand. As it turned out, the laceration was caused by a broken glass pipe the toddler was holding when found by the neighbor who saw the little girl standing in the middle of the roadway alone and without any shoes.

After officers knocked for several minutes, Davis came to the door wearing only pajama pants and confirmed he was tasked with watching the child while the toddler’s mother was at work. Davis was arrested and charged with felony endangerment of a child and reckless neglect, as well as a misdemeanor drug charge after the pipe the child was holding tested positive for the presence of drugs. Davis is scheduled to appear for a status hearing Feb. 9 on that case.

Two days before the arrest for child neglect, the suspect was picked up by police and charged with misdemeanor possession after officers allegedly found heroin in his pocket during a search that was prompted when a K-9 team found evidence of narcotics in a vehicle he was a passenger in. A warrant was issued in that case also on Jan. 5.

Davis has an extensive criminal history involving theft, drugs, burglary and other charges and convictions dating back more than 20 years, including one case filed in March 2015 involving a call from a ranch owner who reported a theft.

2015 file photo of Terrance Eugene Davis, Purgatory Correctional Facility, St. George, Utah, date | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

In the 2015 case, Davis was held at gunpoint by a ranch owner in Enterprise after he was found allegedly attempting to steal the horn off of the owner’s semitractor-trailer. The ranch owner had suspected Davis as being the person responsible for a number of recent thefts and then set a trap to see if the suspect would return to the ranch.

The owner and several other men hid from view and waiting until they saw Davis pull in and then drive around the property for a minute making sure he was alone before he got out of his truck and started to dismantle the “train horns” from the semi trucks. As the men approached, the suspect became startled and drew his gun. When the situation calmed down, all three men were able to tackle the suspect to the ground where they held him at gunpoint until authorities could arrive. He was arrested and booked into jail in Washington County and charged the following day.

The handgun the suspect pulled during the incident was reportedly stolen from a recreational vehicle in Washington City during an unrelated burglary weeks before. When deputies arrived, Davis was arrested and booked on felony theft of a firearm and two misdemeanors, including burglary of a vehicle and trespassing.

The suspect remains in custody on the warrants at the writing of this report.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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