Intoxicated man arrested after allegedly handing police stolen credit cards along with his ID

ST. GEORGE — Early Sunday morning, a call about a public intoxication led to the felony arrest of an Arizona man who allegedly handed officers his ID along with stolen credit cards, several of which belonged to a patron of the One and Only Bar who told police the cards went missing hours earlier.

Duane Tsinigine, 55, of Tuba City, Ariz., booking photo taken in Washington County, Utah, Jan. 24, 2021 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

Shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to the Motel 6 on 1000 East, just north of St. George Boulevard, on an intoxicated person call and arrived to find a man leaning against a vehicle on the west side of the building.

Officers approached and noticed the man was swaying to the side and appeared to be struggling to remain in a standing position. They also noticed a puddle under his feet. The man said nothing when officers asked for his name. After one of the officers asked to see his ID, he pulled several cards out of his pocket and handed them to one of the officers.

As the officer looked through the cards, he found a driver’s license and three credit cards that were in another man’s name, as well as the suspect’s identification card issued out of Arizona that identified him as 55-year-old Duane Tsinigine, of Tuba City, Arizona, a town situated on Navajo lands in Coconino County.

When asked, the suspect told officers the cards belonged to a friend but did not expound any further. As the officer attempted to perform a breathalyzer on the suspect, it became clear the man did not understand the instructions and would not be able to provide “a sufficient sample,” the officer wrote.

When the suspect was questioned about the cards a second time, he allegedly told police he did not know the individual named on the cards, nor did he have permission to use them. He was placed under arrest.

Once at the jail, the officer was able to contact the owner of the cards who said his cards went missing earlier that evening while he was at the One and Only Bar on St. George Boulevard. He also said he did not know who the suspect was and that he didn’t even talk to anyone at the bar that night.

Tsinigine was booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility facing multiple charges, including three third-degree felony counts of unlawful acquisition of a financial card and misdemeanor possession of another’s identity documents, public urination and intoxication.

The suspect remains in custody on $5,000 bail.

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

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