St. George man faces felony charges for allegedly stealing mail, credit cards

Composite image with background stock photo and overlay 2019 file photo of officers on 300 North in LaVerkin, Utah, June 15, 2019 | File photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A St. George man arrested Monday night during a traffic stop in LaVerkin faces felony charges after officers found identification and bank cards during a search of the man’s vehicle. He was also connected to the theft of two packages allegedly stolen from the front porch of a residence last month.

On Monday, a patrol officer in LaVerkin stopped a vehicle for a headlight violation shortly after 11 p.m., and during the stop, a Hurricane K-9 officer also responded to assist, which is when the dog conducted a sniff around the exterior of the vehicle and indicated to the possible presence of drugs.

During a search of the vehicle, officers allegedly recovered suspected marijuana and paraphernalia from the passenger compartment, as well as two driver’s licenses and two debit cards belonging to individuals the suspect stated he did not know.

The officer reached out to one of the individuals by phone who stated the two debit cards were inside of their wallet, which was stolen more than a year ago.

At that point the suspect, Joseph English, 42, was arrested and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility, where he was booked on two felony counts of unlawful acquisition of a financial card and misdemeanor possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.

Joseph Vernon English, 42, of St. George, booking photo taken in Washington County, Utah, Feb. 8, 2021 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

Detectives in St. George then followed up on a mail theft report that came in on Jan. 28 involving two packages that were allegedly taken from the front porch of a residence on North 1300 West.

Authorities also recovered security footage that showed a man, later identified as English, grab the packages and then run to his vehicle before driving off.

The owner of the home where the packages went missing also released both the video of the incident as well as still shots of the suspect to several neighbors and nearby residents who all identified the man in the video as English, who lived less than a block from where the incident took place.

The officer also said in the statement, “I myself find that Joseph English matches the male in the video I witnessed of the theft.”

As such, one misdemeanor count of theft of mail containing identifying info was submitted to the Washington County Attorney’s Office for review.

The suspect has a criminal history going back more than a decade; and in addition to a felony drug case that is still pending with the courts, English was also wanted on an outstanding warrant issued out of Iron County in March of last year on a felony theft case.

In that case, English was charged with felony retail theft for an incident reported in December 2019 involving a sporting goods store in Cedar City in which surveillance footage showed a suspect leave the store with several items, including a set of Leatherman shears, a Bushnell trophy camera and one large handbag. The suspect drove off in a Nissan pickup truck that was later identified by one of the store employees. A registration check revealed the truck was owned by English, who also matched the suspect seen in the store’s surveillance footage.

When a Cedar City Police detective traveled to the suspect’s residence in St. George, English allegedly ran into the house as soon as the officer identified himself and then refused to answer the door. A neighbor confirmed that English lived at the residence, and in March 2020, a warrant was issued for the suspect’s arrest, a warrant that was still outstanding with the courts.

Following Monday’s arrest the suspect remains in custody on $10,010 bail.

This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. 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.

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!